I am partially colorblind. Dark colors like the meatier shades of blue, green, and brown all appear black or grey to me.

One color that I can see very vividly is pink. Thus, I have come to love the color – from the faint tones favored by ballerina dancers to the vibrant tones of hot fuchsia favored by glam bands in the 80’s. I love the color pink. In fact, it’s my favorite color.

Some people scoff at my appreciation of the color pink – suggesting I must be a bit “light in the loafers” to have a color typically associated with the female gender as my favorite color.

I, on the other hand, take the position that it takes a man who is confident in his masculinity to publicly take a stand of appreciation for the color pink.

And what if I was gay? Would that make me any less masculine?

There are many gay men who are far more masculine than many of the bigots I am acquainted with.

Michael Sam was an All-American football player drafted by the Saint Louis Rams and was the first publicly gay man to play in the Canadian Football League. Jason Collins was a successful NBA player who was the first active player in any major American sport to come out as gay. Chris Dickerson was an openly gay professional bodybuilder. Darren Young is an is a former WWE Tag Team Champion. Any one of these men is probably far more “masculine” than most haters that denounce gay rights.

Me? I don’t like haters.

I don’t like homophobes, racists, sexists, or any mindset that belittles another person’s rights and privileges.

Gay people now have the right to be legally married in the United States. This is an awesome sign of progress and I applaud the lawmakers who brought this freedom to choose to fruition and I pray and campaign against those in power who would seek to take away or otherwise limit the rights these men and women are entitled to.

You don’t have to be gay to be in favor of LGBTQ rights. I’m not gay and I certainly support their rights.

There are gay men and women who have fought for our country, who keep our streets safe as first responders, who serve in public office, and many other examples of greatness.

In politics, I would not vote for a candidate just because they are gay any more than I would not vote for a candidate because they are straight. It is the positions on important issues that dictates my voting preferences.

For years men and women in the LGBTQ community had to hide their sexual preference for fear of discrimination. And while progress has been made, these bigotries still exist.

So, I applaud the men and women in these categories of sexual preference for being brave enough to be open and honest about who they love.

Who we love shouldn’t be something to be ashamed of or to be ridiculed or discriminated against.

Love is a beautiful thing. Whether it’s between a man and a woman, a man and a man, or a woman and a woman, love is beautiful.

So, say what you wish about me having pink as my favorite color. Say what you wish about the brave men and women who are open and honest about their sexual preferences. To hate someone because they are different doesn’t make one right. It makes one small minded. And I think a small minded man is far less masculine then even the most effeminate man.

I said it before, and I’ll say it again: love is beautiful.

Peace. Love. Trust.