On March 26, Lil Nas X dropped a new music video for his song “Montero (Call Me by Your Name).”  The music video premiere blew up on social media as many people had mixed feelings about the imagery and symbolism provided in the video.

In Lil Naz X’s case, he knew that “Montero” would cause a huge uproar but I don’t think he cared about that. He wanted to create a piece of music that he poured his heart and soul into and share it to the world. If you don’t like the song, that’s fine.  But canceling his entire music career because you refuse to understand the true meaning behind it is unacceptable.

If you watch “Montero” and you feel uncomfortable, you should be.  If you watch “Montero” and you feel offended in any way, then the video was made for you.

His message is to the Church and to all Christians who have ever ostracized people because of their sexual orientation.

This theme can be shown with the video incorporating certain Christian beliefs and stories. Curtis M. Wong of HuffPost wrote, “The queer rapper’s newest single talks about a lustful relationship between two same-gender lovers[…] An accompanying video begins with the rapper, whose birth name is Montero Lamar Hill, in a depiction of the Garden of Eden being traced by a snake that he kisses and ends with him giving Satan a lap dance.”

The way Lil Nas X conveyed his personal struggles with Christianity and being a queer man in the music video was apparently disrespectful to the religion. And instead of voicing their opinions in a tasteful way, the negligent parents and Bible thumping Christans angrily complained about it on Twitter.

The fact that people are willfully ignorant of the actual issues and concerns that affect the LGBTQ+ community as a whole is so infuriating.

Plus, advocates for the music video, like sophomore Khyli Ellington who actually got the point, also felt like she was surrounded by stupidity. Ellington said, “He made a video about his journey and how he felt about his sexuality and Christians and some parents aren’t seeing that and that’s really dumb because it is a struggle to be not only black but queer.”

It’s hilarious how people still criticize him without truly looking into all the symbolism and elements of Christianity’s numerous hypocrisies that the video offers. Thankfully, people like Andrew R.Chow from Time Magazine take the time to interview people educated about such topics, like Professor Roland Betancourt. “It says that institutionalization of homophobia is a learned thing- and that there are other origin myths available to us that are not rooted in those ideas,” said Professor Betancourt.

It’s honestly an ongoing struggle, especially for the LGBTQ+ community, as they are still looked down upon for just being themselves. Ellington said, “The fact that he made this video to express himself shouldn’t be hated on.  It’s so annoying that people don’t think about how he was feeling and the amount of time he took into trying to get his point across.”

Honestly, throughout this whole experience, Lil Nas X has shown astounding resilience with each criticism and insult. Lil Nas X said in a tweet, “I spent my entire teenage year hating myself because of the (expletive) y’all preached would happen to me because I was gay. So I hope u are mad, stay mad, feel the same anger you teach us to have towards ourselves.”

So people of the world reading this, I implore you to stop blaming celebrities for your unhappiness and insecurities. Lil Nas X doesn’t have to cater to your beliefs or comfort. Because at the end of the day, it’s just a pop song.

If you don’t like it, don’t listen to it. Simple.