You may not have heard of the artist John Trumbull, but you’ve definitely seen his most famous painting: Declaration of Independence. It’s what is on the back of a $2 bill. Here’s the kicker: the scene it depicts never happened. By the time the document was ready to be signed, Philadelphia was too dangerous for the delegates to all gather to autograph it – they each entered the city when they could, signed it, and left immediately. What we’ve been taught as a defining moment in the formation of our nation was really just propaganda optics.

As the U.S. celebrates our semisesquicentennial, our 250th birthday, we should be used to the idea of two Americas: one we pretend exists, and one that really does. We talk about welcoming all who come to our shores, but the first immigration law – passed in 1790 – limited citizenship for immigrants to free white people. We passed laws excluding Chinese, forbade women who were deemed to potentially be prostitutes, and set quotas favoring Western and Northern Europeans – a policy the current president still supports.

We pride ourselves on the equality of every American, yet gay men were routinely imprisoned, harassed by cops, bashed, and even murdered. Perpetrators walked free by arguing the “gay panic defense”. This argument even bled into the fight by President Bill Clinton to allow LGBTQ+ people to serve openly in the military. Famously, Sen. Sam Nunn visited the cramped sleeping quarters aboard a submarine to demonstrate why gay men shouldn’t be allowed to serve. As usual, lesbian women were ignored.

And in a place where we sing the praises of family – calling them the very foundation of the nation itself – we legislatively limited who that meant. Same-gender marriage became law nationwide only within the past decade. Gay men and lesbian women couldn’t be legal parents in Utah until the SCOTUS marriage equality ruling.

But we also preach an ideal that I believe is true: hope. As the grandson of immigrants, as a gay man, and as a father, I’ve seen firsthand how hope for a better life and a better nation is an integral part of the American psyche.

Look, our country’s name notwithstanding, we’re never going to be completely united; no nation ever really is. Even the Revolution wasn’t universally supported – about a third were pro-independence, a third loyal to the crown, and – typically American – a third didn’t care. They hoped for a new nation, for reconciliation with England, for a quick resolution to it all. But they were united in hoping for a better future for their children.

There will never be a time when all 342 million of us agree on marriage equality, or that gay parents are fabulous, or that trans folks can use whatever bathroom they choose. But for LGBTQ+ Americans, we can have hope that one day those naysayers will become our biggest fans. Having hope for a better country, not just for us but for our children, is ingrained in us as much today as it was in 1776. This sense of idealism allows us to fight for positive change; it’s what drives us to continue fighting to expand and preserve our rights, especially at times when our country doesn’t seem so great. It empowers us to recreate the America we want. That’s what the founders really believed in.

That Trumbull painting may not show exactly what happened back in July 1776, but it clearly captures the hope for a new country envisioned by the founders. And if you look closely, you might even see an even better nation hoped for by generations of Americans yet to come.

Happy 250th^, America!