Many LGBT youths can’t picture what their lives might be like as openly gay adults. They can’t imagine a future for themselves. Some of them throw themselves so far into the closet they become republican, pursue a career in politics, get elected to office and constantly vote against marriage equality and gay rights. To those people like Indiana State Rep. Phillip Hinkle who was recently caught soliciting gay sex with a much younger man for money in a “sugar daddy” situation I have a message for you.

It gets better.

You may think that there’s no future for you but this is just the beginning. You can come out of the closet now. Everybody knows you’re gay. A part of you is going to want to deny, deny , deny but that never works. Just look at closeted gay republican anti gay equality politicians like Larry Craig, Robert Allen, Roy Ashburn, Richard Curtis, Jim West, Ed Schrock and many, many, seriously quite a few (so many!) others. They’ll say things like they just wanted some toilet paper from the guy in the next stall or they only offered to blow the guy for $20 because they’re afraid of black people but everybody knows, their careers are ruined and they’re unhappy. This doesn’t have to be you.

As an openly gay man, you wouldn’t have to worry about trolling craigslist for sex when you can just go to a gay bar for free. You won’t have to worry about media scrutiny and most of all you won’t have to constantly attempt to make openly gay people second class citizens because you can’t come to terms with the fact that you’re attracted to men. It does get better.

You may think you’re alone but you’re not. If the last 50 republican sex scandals have taught us anything, it’s that pretty much any republican who votes against gay marriage is most likely a closeted homosexual. Just like you, Rep. Hinkle. You’re not alone. It gets better.

I know you’ve been like this for many years and it’s hard to change. You’ve always known you were gay but didn’t want other people to know. You saw how openly gay people were bullied and thought if you bullied them even harder nobody would suspect your homosexuality so you became the biggest bully of all, a republican politician. So many years you’ve lived this lie but it’s over now. You’re an old, old super old gay man. The sooner you embrace that, the sooner it will get better.

If you need any more encouragement, you can watch the videos at itgetsbetter.org and hear the kind, inspiring words of loving people that you’ve been trying to politically curb stomp your entire career.