I got a pretty awesome gift at the newspaper white elephant gift exchange this past December — a Minions T-shirt. I’m a huge fan of the Minions: those mischievous, yellow, nonsense-speaking creatures of “Despicable Me” fame. However, I quickly found out that almost none of my newspaper friends are, as they proceeded to say terribly things about Minions to me. Clearly, Minions didn’t make them smile and laugh like they made me, but I was confused about why they felt strongly enough to shame me for liking them.

After some more thought, I began to understand where they were coming from. I remembered some of the bad things I had previously said about, and sometimes to, fans of twenty one pilots, Jennifer Lawrence and Taylor Swift. This put me in a real quandary — I didn’t like how it felt to have other people tell me that Minions are terrible, but I also didn’t know if I could bring myself to support fans of musicians and celebrities that I just flat-out don’t get the appeal behind.

After careful consideration, I found a solution: I’d preach against fandom shaming, and I’d also practice what I preached by no longer shaming other fandoms.

The people and things we’re fans of make us happy and give us something to relate to. So, when others say bad things about what we like, it makes us — or, at least, it makes me — not only feel bad about liking those things, but question whether we even should.

People shouldn’t have to wonder whether the things they like are legitimate, though. If something makes you smile or laugh, or you can relate to it, then you should be able to like it. You may have to defend why you like something every now and then, but it shouldn’t happen every time you mention it.

There is one exception to the rule. There’s no reasonable case for being a fan of someone that promotes racist, sexist or morally reprehensible views. For instance, if you’re a fan of Bill Cosby after his recent scandal, don’t expect to get by without criticism.

We shouldn’t demerit what others like, but instead celebrate it. I’m sorry if I’ve offended you in the past for saying mean things about something or someone you’re a fan of. Likewise, I hope I’ve motivated you to stop hating on people for liking Minions — at least enough for me to wear my T-shirt.