I have an amazing man in my life. He's 22 -- seven years younger than me -- but will always be my baby brother. I have hundreds of fond memories of him as a little boy.

As an adult, he's one of my very best friends. He is kind, loving and gracious. He adores my children. When he walks in the door of my home he's flooded with hugs from five children who look up to their “Uncle Daniel.” He chases them down the hall, lets them climb on his shoulders for piggy back rides and sits down to color with them. He's everything we mothers could ask for in an uncle and as a role model for our children.

He has pulled me out of deep, dark depressions with his smile. He teaches me. He loves me. He takes me shopping and tells me when I look ridiculous in a pair of jeans. He texts me just to say, “Love you, sis.”

Last April, he was still living in our hometown in Kentucky and decided to join me in Omaha. He interviewed at one business and got the job. In celebration of his new life, my husband and I took him out to Clancy's. With plans of a great night of greasy food and cold beer, we got a babysitter and headed out with ear-to-ear smiles plastered on our faces. We ate and laughed with friends and toasted his success.

Then our world changed.

My husband was chatting it up with a table across the patio. There was an adorable 21-year-old college gal out celebrating her birthday. My husband thought she was a perfect girl to set Daniel up with. He got her number and went to share it with Daniel.

Daniel looked me dead in the eye and began shaking his head no. Thinking he was kidding, I shoved the crumpled up napkin with the girl's number in his hand. I said, “Don't be a chicken, Daniel! She's cute and she thinks you're cute, too. Call her!!!!!”

“I can't,” he said. “I'm gay.”

I thought he was kidding. “No, you're not. Don't be crazy and tease me right now,” I said, as I playfully pushed his arm. Then tears started welling up in his blue eyes and subsequently streaming down his face. I realized this was real.

“I don't want you to be disappointed in me,” he choked out between gut-wrenching sobs.

My mother-bear instincts rose up. Disappointed in him? No way! Worried, sad and scared, yes. My first thoughts were that people are going to judge him. His life is going to be harder now. What will our family say? He needs me. I have to be strong.

My brother is not one to rock the boat. He's not rebelling against anything or anyone by choosing this lifestyle. It's not a choice. Who in their right mind would chose a lifestyle that's adamantly rejected by much of society? A lifestyle that is looked upon as evil, disgusting and sinful. One where people assume he's promiscuous and diseased?

He's the same great guy who looked to me for dating advice as a high schooler. He had a clingy girlfriend and wanted to end the relationship but did not want to hurt her. We sat at Mom and Dad's kitchen table for hours talking through what he could say so that he wouldn't break her heart. He cared more about not hurting her than ensuring he was free from her craziness. That's just the kind of man he is.

Last week, he was subjected to hate by a member of our family. This person used Facebook to post a video masked as one that would dispel the “myths of gay rights” but in actuality poked fun at the homosexual lifestyle. It was vile and ugly and truly shook me to my core. Her reasoning in posting this was “out of love for his soul.” Are you kidding me? Posting a video with a speaker who is mocking the gay lifestyle is supposed to save his soul?

I realize some disagree and believe he is wrong for living this way; some may even believe he is an ugly sinner because of his sexuality. The reality is he is a beautiful man. A Christian. A human. He feels, he loves, he gives.

Being gay doesn't define him, just as being straight doesn't define me. People judge him, every single day and that's an absurd, ugly piece of our world. The fact that he is gay should be irrelevant.

He's not stalking your husband, looking for another man to prey on. He's in a committed, monogamous relationship now, just as I am. He's living his life as a productive member of society. He works full-time for a great company and is admired by his management. He's also a full-time college student working diligently to obtain a bachelor's degree in business or management. He pays his taxes. Heck, he even uses his turn signal when driving on West Dodge!

His homosexuality has no bearing on your ability to live your life, so someone please enlighten me with the reason he's judged so critically?

Wouldn't this world be a much healthier place if we could stop the judgment?

American society is so proud of our freedoms. The right to free speech, the right to bear arms, the right to a fair trial. We claim to be welcoming to the poor and needy. We allow people to worship (or not worship) at the church of our choosing. Yet, the truth of the matter is, we have so far to go in the realm of freedoms for all people.

My dream is that my brother would be accepted as the intelligent and giving man that he is. That he'd be permitted to marry his partner and enjoy all the privileges the covenant of marriage brings to heterosexuals. That he can one day become the wonderful father I know he can be. That he wouldn't be attacked, hated and judged because he loves someone society says he shouldn't.

Sarah Tucker is married with five children. She works from home. Her blogs appear every Sunday on momaha.com.

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