Every single person deserves to be treated equally, no matter who they are who they choose to love. If you’ve ever been picked on for your sexual orientation, gender, skin colour, your weight, your height, your hair texture, or your facial features, then you know just how damaging and hurtful discrimination can be.

It’s always worse when you find that others pick on you for things that you know you cannot change, and would not want to change. It affects the way that you feel about yourself and the way you feel about others. It might even make you want to shut the world out altogether because you’re constantly made to feel bad about yourself.

We may all have experienced bullying at some point or other in our lives, and we know just how much it hurts. You may say something to someone without really thinking about it, but they may remember it for the rest of their lives. People don’t always understand something about someone that makes them different and this might be the reason they resort to teasing and bullying. So before you say something hurtful, try to understand. Speak to the person and hear what they are about and you might find that they are more like you than you thought.

This is why Chomas, it’s important to be who you are and love the amazing person you are! We are all beautifully unique and specials, and it is important to let others be who it is that they are most comfortable being without the fear that they will be judged or bullied. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being different, in fact, it should be celebrated!

Discrimination prevents others from expressing themselves and often forces them to pretend to be something they’re not, preventing them from freely forming healthy relationships and being happy. It affects their health, their studies and their overall well-being.

So the next time you feel like attacking someone or bullying them based on their background, culture, skin colour or sexual orientation, consider what it would feel like if it were you. Put yourself in their shoes. When it comes down to it, we’re all human and that is what we should see in each other first. Also, if you’re the one being bullied, understand that it’s their prejudice and their loss for not seeing how beautiful and perfect you are in every way possible.

The world would be boring without diversity anyway, so why pick on people because they are different to you? Don’t fuel hate, fuel love and acceptance because that is what makes society progress. There is also no such thing as “normal” Chomas, we are all different, unique and amazing in our own ways, there is no ‘right’ sexuality, or ‘right’ race.

Your happiness does not depend on another person’s acceptance of you Choma! You are perfect!