I am a real American.

I am a real American. I grew up in rural Indiana, in a town so small it doesn’t appear on most state maps. I attended public school from kindergarten through 12th grade, was on the tennis team for four years, in the marching band for three, and graduated with a 4.1 on a four point scale. I have since finished both an undergraduate and master’s degree in architecture. I consider myself to be very lucky to have found a job in my chosen profession that allows me to stay in the Midwest. I currently live downtown in a medium sized city where, despite the fact that I do own a car and could afford to drive, I walk almost everywhere.

I am both an atheist and a pacifist. I believe that people should be judged by their actions, not their race, gender, orientation, religious affiliation, nationality, age, or weight. Although as a man I personally will never be pregnant, I believe that it is every woman’s right to decide whether or not she wishes to be pregnant. I believe that anything is fair game between consenting informed adults: “And it hurt nobody else, do what you will.” I believe that the more a person knows, the better their choices will be. Towards that end I support age appropriate comprehensive sex-ed, in addition to supporting cheap, easy, and reliable access to birth control for anybody who wants it.

I love beer, hate cappuccino, and have never eaten asparagus. I consider intelligence to be the sexiest thing about a person regardless of their gender, second only to a sense of humor (the drier, more sarcastic the better). I believe that the only way the war on drugs will ever be successful is to realize as a culture that marijuana is not a gateway drug, and in all reality is much less harmful to the human body than alcohol.

I am a real American, and anybody who says otherwise is a hatemonger.