And you know, this isn't primarily about death, although I'm glad you bring up that worst-case scenario, because it certainly matters.

But most queer kids don't kill themselves, even when they suffer family hostility or rejection. The key word here, of course, is suffer.

LGBTQ people deserve to pursue happiness and fulfillment as much as any other person on the globe. We deserve to be part of our communities, embraced and valued for who we are.

When we're pushed away, marginalized, or isolated, we suffer. Needlessly. And let me tell you, there's a lot of needless suffering going on in the world right now because of bigotry.

It's painful to think about. It's painful to read about. It's just plain painful.

I published a story yesterday that included an anecdote about a fifth grader who heard the word "gay" used respectfully for the first time in a school presentation. His mother says that up until that point he had only heard the word in school when it was directed against him as an insult — multiple times a day.

Of course, that's painful to think about, but the more painful thing is that his school district reacted by banning the speaker who said "gay" respectfully.

I don't even like to think about the kind of suffering that results from that sort of obvious bigotry.