On the night of the 2012 presidential election, knowing that Obama had prevailed over Romney, I packed my things and left home the next morning for a week-long road trip to Salt Lake City. Several decades had passed since I'd lived in Utah. I imagined that things had changed.

We're used to hiding: hiding externally to protect ourselves from the hostility of others, and hiding in our own heads from reminders of a world that rejects us. But times have changed. President Obama has come out in support of us. We have to come out in support of ourselves, too.

You are going to ensure that my rights continue to be stripped away because you want to vote for the guy who has provided no clear economic plan and gets ripped apart by even fiscally conservative publications. Think about what a slap in the face that is.

Twenty-two percent of LGBT registered voters support Mitt Romney. I'm not in that 22 percent, but you are. I want to discuss a few issues to explain why I'm not, and why, even without knowing you, I believe it's against your and our country's interest for you to cast your vote for Romney.

Supporters of Romney are now trying desperately to spin his lack of moral certainty as a good thing. The argument for Romney has become: "You don't like this current Romney? Don't worry, he'll change into whatever you want after the election and be great! Trust us!"

The outcome of this election will determine where I can have my wedding, and where I can be married. It will determine whether I can return to my home state of North Carolina and adopt children. It will determine whether I have legal protections as a gay employee in every state in the union.

We've all been on those dates where you find out that you're sleeping with the enemy. However, this is election season, and things are different if their "little quirk" is a Romney-Ryan bumper sticker. You need to stop paying attention to dat ass and pay attention to dat electoral map.

We have a week left. Share your feelings with those who love you, and ask that they do the right thing. Tell them that the future they think Romney will give them comes at a cost, sadly. And it might not be their friends but their very children who ask for their money back.

In offering up their endorsement of Mitt Romney for president, the Log Cabin Republicans alleged that "as his record as Governor of Massachusetts suggests, [Romney] will not waste his precious time in office with legislative attacks on LGBT Americans." That assertion is wildly incorrect.

I personally support Barack Obama for president of the United States. I have studied him since 1996, and I have watched him do what he says, even when the tasks are very hard. He has more to do, and he deserves more time to complete his agenda.

The run-up to an election is a trying time for friendships, especially for LGBT people who feel personally attacked when their friends vote for anti-equality candidates. Some of us find ourselves saying "please defriend me." This open letter to a friend tries to find another way.

I want for my son what all mothers want. I want him to grow up into a happy, healthy adult. I want him to find a career where he can thrive. I want him to find someone awesome to love who loves him right back. But all those things will be in jeopardy if Mitt Romney becomes president.

I feel sorry for every gay and questioning child who might have to listen to a potential president who believes he or she is not equal. It gives permission to every authority figure, every politician, every teacher, every bully on the playground to push you around. It is trickle-down bullying.

How could Mitt Romney winning the White House be a good thing for the gay community? On the surface it seems totally counterintuitive, but a Romney presidency could be a golden opportunity.

Even if you could be certain that a particular candidate would be better for the economy, would you still vote for him if he threatened to put an end to your marriage, prevent you from receiving survivor benefits, and risk your losing your home?

This week Romney apparently believes that it should be up to the states to decide whether or not a spouse or child of gay and lesbian men and women should have the right to visit their loved ones in the hospital.

How did it come to be that lesbians and gays still have to contort themselves to fit into some straight mold? An undeniable factor is leadership. The LGBT community lives in a world that has been designed by and for straight people -- or straight white males.

It may finally be the case that "gay" has turned a corner and is no longer the wedge issue it once was, or that we may at least be close to seeing both sides of the aisle realize that they need to accept what the majority of the country already accepts.

The primary stumbling block between us is the fact that I am gay and Mitt is a Mormon. I know where his heart lies. I couldn't possibly vote for someone who might govern for his religion first and will never support my right to enjoy the freedoms that everyone in our country wishes for.

One of the favored talking points that conservatives like to direct at the LGBT community is that "Obama is just pandering for your votes with his support of marriage equality." But a look beyond that rhetoric, going deep into the record, tells a vastly different story.

I have to admit, it's been a long time since I've felt the need to be politically active. But When Mike Huckabee spoke out in favor of Chick-fil-A's anti-gay stance and called for a "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," and thousands upon thousands of like-minded people showed up, it woke me up.

Not only did Romney reaffirm his support for inequality after the president's announcement last week, stating that "marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman," but he recently reversed a statement he made on gay adoption.