By Amy Price
Editor-in-Chief

Earlier this month, a video emerged through ABC News starring an embarrassing moment between Mitt Romney and a war veteran on Romney’s campaign trail. With any successful politician, photo opportunities such as kissing babies, shaking hands, hugging the elderly and thanking war veterans for their service allow the public a heartwarming image of what thoughtful and decent people they are.
Unfortunately, Romney got caught up in an awkward exchange when he went to sit down with a war veteran. The man Romney sat next to asked him only one question. It was pertaining to the pending New Hampshire repeal of the same-sex marriage act. “All I want is a yes or no answer. Do you support the repealing?” Bob Garon, who happened to be eating breakfast with his longtime partner, asked in the video.
The next two minutes proved to be too uncomfortable for the incumbent, and Romney was rushed out of harm’s way by an unknown campaign worker.  The frenzied media swarmed Garon and asked why that question meant so much to him. Garon replied with a firm and vigorous, “Because I’m gay, and I happen to love a man the same way you probably love your wife.”
This touched me deeply as I am a lesbian and planning on voting in November. The topic of same-sex marriage has been hot over the past few months. On May 9, President Barack Obama “came out” in an ABC interview by saying he supports same-sex marriage.
This year the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community has an actual chance of ending the bigotry that has plagued our lives. This year more than ever, it is imperative that everyone who supports same-sex marriage get to the voting polls.
It is no secret that Romney is against same-sex marriage. According to an article in the Dallas Voice, his running mate Paul Ryan has notoriously turned down every pro-LGBT legislation act that has come his way.
Same-sex marriage has also recently been a hot button subject outside the realm of politics. The recent Chick-Fil-A debacle caused a media circus when company president Dan Cathy told Baptist Press in July that the company supports the biblical definition of marriage. This is obviously an opinion that is shared with millions of others.
However, Chick-Fil-A tookit a step further, donating at least $5 million to a certified hate group, Family Research Council, according to an article in the Huffington Post. According to www.gladd.org, Family Research Council has distributed pamphlets that support reorientation therapy (unorthodox methods, such  electric shock therapy used to “cure” homosexuality) and have compared homosexuals to criminals, pedophiles and terrorists.
In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder. Fast forward 39 years, and parts of society are still denying us the rights we deserve.
When November rolls around, take a moment to think about all the LGBT individuals you know and how detrimental it is to not support President Obama. If Romney and Ryan prove successful, it will destroy and set back all the strides my community has been making to win the fight for equality.