“I might disagree with your opinion, but I am willing to give my life for your right to express it,” the French philosopher Voltaire said.

An opinion can be a view or judgment of something based on what you know, but it is not necessarily a fact.

If people did not have opinions, where would we be?

Nothing would change, decisions would not be made, and emotions would be bottled up.

Yes, people may disagree with an opinion, but isn’t that why we call it an opinion?

We are free to express our thoughts, and even though there are other opinions contradicting your opinion, you are still entitled to have that said opinion.

We have the right to our freedom, and that includes our opinion.

I find today that people are not afraid to express their opinions, but people also are not scared to rebel against those opinions.

Also, I find that people have a problem keeping their opinions respectful to others.

Senior Kaylen Lumley believes that something is an opinion until it is hurtful to others.

“That’s where I draw the line at for an opinion,” Lumley said. “You shouldn’t have an opinion that oppresses and hurts another human being for being who they are.”

I agree with Lumley’s opinion on the matter.

Yes, you are entitled to your opinion, but I do not think that you should express your opinion as openly to those that you might offend.

With topics like people who are gay, transgender, and many other things, it is evident that things have been said in the past, and even now, that are hurtful.

Senior CJ Forsberg is a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community and has been affected by theses hurtful opinions.

“As a transgender person, I am very much affected by the opinions of others,” Forsberg said. “If someone has an opinion hurting me or against transgender people in general, it will literally keep me up at night or make me anxious to go to a class.”

Go ahead, share your opinion with friends and family, but when there are people you do not know, please keep to being respectful.

“While I feel like everyone has the right to an opinion, some opinions should not be expressed if they prevent a minority group from being equal,” Forsberg said.

There are many people in school that are affected by opinions. In fact, there are very few that are not affected.

Senior Michael Fitzgerald, member of the LGBT community, believes this to be true even outside of school.

“Many people — both in Kearsley and out — take for granted that they’re technically allowed to say whatever they want,” Fitzgerald said. “They don’t, however, realize that these words often come at the expense of others.”

Fitzgerald can even go as far as saying how amazed he is thinking back to all of the comments he has heard.

“As a member of the LGBT community, I can’t even begin to tell how many times a hurtful opinion or a biased comment has led to me being grossly discriminated against,” Fitzgerald said. “Even now, in my senior year, I have lost friends who have had just generally nasty opinions regarding other people.”

All of these opinions affect someone in some way, whether it be hurtful or not. Both Forsberg and Fitzgerald have lost friends because of rude and hurtful opinions.

“I once had a friend that didn’t like my opinions of wanting LGBTQ people to have equal rights. However, this did not affect them in any way,” Forsberg said. “We’re not friends anymore. But I do not believe that if someone is potentially stopping you from being an equal citizen, you should take in their opinion but stop associating with them.”

The comments made to the LGBT community are just an example because it is huge today.

There is also racism, political debates that go wrong, the concept of people being called nerd, and many more groups of people that get affected by a simple opinion.

All in all, please keep it respectful to the people around you because, yes, we are free to express ourselves. But we are all free to have emotions, too.