In seven countries being gay is penalized by death. These countries are killing their citizens because of who they love. These countries are plunging the homophobia knife further into the increasingly progressive rest of the world.

In America, we may have same-sex marriage rights, but other places in the world are not as accepting. According to the ILGA (International Lesbian and Gay Association) it is illegal to do a homosexual act and punishable in part or all of: Maritania, Nigeria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen, and Iran punish members of the LGBTQ with something worse than prison: death.

We should be advocating for world equality more and more, at least until a death sentence is not apart of the picture. The fight to gain equality will never be gone in any respect, but we need to start with not letting other humans die because of their sexuality or gender.

Why does it matter who people are attracted to, or what gender people identify as.. Why does it affect them? It does not. People might bring up the point that it goes against their religion, but why does it matter if they are going against your religion? Does it affect you in any way?

Even when it is not government, there are many homophobia groups around the world that take homosexuality more seriously and take the law into their own hands. It’s disgusting that there are groups dedicated to killing people who are gay.

Even though a lot of western society has become more accepting, there are still places in the world where gay people can be put to death just for being gay. It is sad that people have to hide who they are and who they love for fear of death or imprisonment and hopefully one day it will change. However, it will not change without the people standing up to this injustice.