Can you imagine living in a society where your religious views are attacked because your moral beliefs do not align with those of others? No? Well, Isabella Chow can’t either.

According to Fox News, on November 14th,  Isabella Chow, a Christian student senator at UC Berkeley, was harassed for abstaining from a pro-LGBTQ+ vote. Her student organization, Student Action, has kicked her out and is pressuring her to resign or face a referendum because of her religious views — but she won’t back down.

She has been labeled “homophobic” and “transphobic,” yet that’s not what she is at all; she’s only standing up for her moral beliefs. To Fox she says, “I personally do believe that certain acts and lifestyles conflict with what is good, right, and true…[but] for me to love another person does not mean that I silently concur when, at the bottom of my heart, I do not believe that your personal choices are right.” It seems to me that she is merely a woman filled with integrity, not seeking to compromise her values at the cost of falsely concurring with her classmates for benefits that she knows are not right. Although students at UC Berkeley have made signs that say, “Senator Chow, resign now!”, and have deemed her to be “violent,” “hypocritical,” and “bigoted,” she remains strong and perseveres.

In an effort to stand firm upon the grounds of her moral beliefs, Chow adds, “No matter how difficult this has been, if I don’t represent the Christian perspective– the minority perspective– there won’t be anyone to represent these views.” Indicating that her purpose in life is to stand her ground as a Christian believer of ordained moral values, Chow makes it her duty to continue fighting for her religious truth to be heard. Although she doesn’t agree with how those in the LGBTQ+ community live, she does acknowledge that “each person deserves respect, legal protection, and love…[and discrimination] is never, ever okay.” I believe that LGBTQ+ members think that Christians want to discriminate against them, but that is far from the truth.

As a Christian myself, I have a set of values that I do my best to live by, and discrimination against others — especially LGBTQ+ members — is not a moral that I, or Isabella Chow, live by. Like her, I believe Christians seek to give people the truth with grace, but sometimes society makes it seem as though Christians hate LGBTQ+ members. Granted, Christians only seem to talk about religion when it comes to matters of LGBTQ+ members (let’s face it), but we surely do not hate them. Yes, the Bible may be a great resource for Christians to get their assertions from, but not everyone believes in the Bible. I think Christians and members of the LGBTQ+ community should have a civil, social conversation. So, if Christians and LGBTQ+ members are able to socially converse with one another without condemning each other, and simply give one another their truth with grace, then maybe incidents like that which occurred at UC Berkeley would not happen. There is a large divide between the LGBTQ+ community and Christians, but I believe it is time to bridge the divide, love each other, and gracefully tell each other our truths.