Let’s face it: “single” is often considered the worst of relationship statuses.

So many of us are in such a rush to couple up, we never slow down and take stock of all the small things that make being single so damn wonderful. (Really, who needs a relationship when you have Netflix, pizza and wifi?)

Below, 22 things that are completely underrated about being single:

1. There’s no such thing as “her” or “his” sides of the bed. Migrate to the right, move it to the left, lay claim to the middle — it’s all yours, baby.

2. The Netflix account is all yours, too. (So zero judgement if you feel compelled to binge watch “Bridezillas,” seasons 1-10)

3. Toilet paper costs a lot less when you’re buying for one.

4. There’s zero mental energy wasted asking yourself, “Is he the one?” or “Do I really love her?” or “How will I know?”

5. You can leave a party whenever YOU want to.

6. You learn that there’s a huge difference between loneliness and being alone. You start to appreciate your own company, which hopefully lays the foundation for a pretty solid future relationship, if you choose to have one.

7. Your framed Audrey Hepburn quote photo and sparkly fish collection can absolutely be the focal points of your room. (Picking your own room decor > merging items with your S.O. who doesn’t want his room to look like Lisa Frank threw up in it.)

8. Go ahead: Regulate the temperature in your house or bedroom however you see fit. #blessed

9. Compromise is important and all but you have the freedom to figure out what you really want for yourself and go out and live it.

10. The unadulterated excitement of getting a text from someone cute you met during a night out.

11. The chances that someone will use your toothbrush by accident seriously decrease.

12. Instead of having a monthly ladies’ or guys’ night, you can put the time and energy into the long-term friendships that have sustained you before, during and after romantic relationships.

13. Also? You can be friends with other men or women without being worried your S.O. will get jealous or think something romantic is going on.

14. Your bathroom is always clean to your (high, high) standards. Or your low ones: Don’t want to put the cap back on the toothpaste or put the toilet seat down? You do (dirty) you.

15. Three words: Glorious uninterrupted sleep. You aren’t woken up by your partner’s alarm that goes off two hours earlier than yours.

16. When you open a bottle of wine, it’s likely not gone in one night. Less people to drink it = two or three nights of wine (It’s all about saving money, people).

17. Not feeling pressured to get out of bed and be productive just because your S.O. is up and doing stuff is pure bliss. So what if you want to read for two hours in bed before making breakfast?

18. You can go weeks (months?) without a bikini wax and nobody cares. (Same goes for your massive beard, dudes.)

19. You don’t have to worry about anyone taking your leftovers. Or all the hot water from the shower. Or your last can of cold beer… or anything you don’t want to share, ever.

20. You’re more motivated to leave your apartment and do cool shit when you don’t have the option of laying around with one person all the time. Being single makes you more adventurous!

21. No judgments when your housecleaning playlist includes ABBA, Britney Spears and a few Stephen Sondheim ditties.

22. You were told that your soulmate is supposed to be your best friend but really, the best thing about being single is realizing how to be your own best friend — loving yourself, being happy hanging out with yourself, learning about yourself. At the end of the day, the only person you’re guaranteed to spend every. single. day of your life with is yourself.

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Last week, we told you how witnesses compared same-sex marriage to bestiality and pedophilia when they testified in support of a bill that would prevent churches and pastors from being forced to participate in gay weddings. 

On Monday, the Texas Senate responded by advancing the bill in a 21-10 vote, with one Democrat joining the chamber’s 20 Republicans. 

The Texas Tribune reports on passage of the so-called “Pastor Protection Act”: 

State Sen. José Rodríguez, an El Paso Democrat who voted against the measure, questioned whether it could be used to justify a refusal to perform interracial marriages — shielding religious officials from prosecution “no matter how extreme [their] views are.”

Pointing out that same-sex marriage is banned in Texas, state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, asked what problem the bill was trying to fix. 

Whitmire said it was “unheard of” that a same-sex couple would try to force a pastor to perform a wedding ceremony if that pastor did not accept their marriage. 

“They just want to be left alone to love their partner, they want to get married with clergy in a setting that embraces that union,” he said.  

More from the The American-Statesman: 

The legislation also stipulates that clergy, religious organizations and people employed by a religious group could not be sued for damages, prosecuted for criminal violations, lose tax-exempt status or forfeit a government contract or grant for refusing to provide services, open facilities or sell goods related to same-sex marriages.

“I think the language is awfully broad,” said Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, adding that a clause protecting groups supervised and controlled by a religious organization would seem to allow for-profit health care, nursing home and other companies to refuse to serve same-sex couples.

The Texas House is set to vote on an identical bill Tuesday. 

Also Tuesday, the House will vote on a far more dangerous bill, by Rep. Cecil Bell (above), that seeks to undermine a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. 

The Texas Observer reports: 

The bill would bar state and local employees from issuing, enforcing or recognizing same-sex marriage licenses—and prohibit public monies from being used to do so—regardless of any court order.

LGBT advocates say if the high court rules in favor of same-sex marriage, HB 4105 would set up a showdown between state and federal law, costing Texas millions of dollars in litigation and potentially delaying the effectiveness of the decision by years. They say the bill would unleash chaos similar to what’s been seen in Alabama over same-sex marriage, and generate the type of business backlash associated with passage of an anti-LGBT religious freedom law in Indiana. … 

Rebecca Robertson, legal and policy director at the ACLU of Texas, said HB 4105 is designed to give Texas another legal basis for challenging same-sex marriage in court: state sovereignty. And she said it could be used as a model by other states for resisting the Supreme Court ruling.

“The last time that we saw similar efforts to undermine court rulings about what the Constitution requires was when Southern states attempted to use the power of the purse to avoid having to comply with federal court orders ordering school desegregation,” Robertson said. “Those tactics were rejected, but obviously it took years of litigation to get to that point. HB 4105 is trying to do the same kind of end run around the Constitution.”

Despite comparisons to Indiana’s religious freedom law, few businesses have come out publicly against the Texas anti-gay marriage bill, according to The Washington Blade: 

As Texas lawmakers prepare to vote on legislation aimed at circumventing an anticipated U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of same-sex marriage, the state’s business leaders are largely keeping quiet.

The business community’s opposition in Indiana helped ignite a media firestorm against a religious freedom law there that is so far absent in the Texas debate. … 

Robert Wood, spokesperson for the Texas Association of Businesses, said his organization hasn’t “taken any position, nor testified” on the legislation and doesn’t have any comment at this time.

You can take action against House Bill 4105 here and here. 

Q, the new social network developed by Eric Cervini, wants to do away with the left-swipe. As apps like Grindr and Tinder have come to changed the way that we date and interact with one another, online dating has become something akin to a digital meat market. Q, as Cervini’s Kickstarter describes, envisions a different future for romantic, virtual connections. Rather than separating its users by gender identity and sexuality indiscriminately, Q promises to be the first social network for people who explicitly identify as queer.

“Right now, the largest gay app prevents access to everyone but men, and it has an irrevocable license “to reproduce, distribute, [and] publicly display” everything we share. It’s exclusive, and it invades our privacy—we deserve better,” Cervini expressed via the project’s Kickstarter page. “That’s why I’ve created Q, a community-driven social networking app for humans – of all genders and sexual orientations – who identify as queer.”

Q wants to incorporate all of the progressive measures that companies like Facebook have implemented as they’ve worked to become more inclusive spaces for queer people. Where networking apps like Grindr and Scruff have generally limited their users to identifying as male, Q aims to be open and accessible to all people regardless of their gender identities.

Cervini’s project is looking to raise some $25,000 and as of the publishing of this post his Kickstarter has raised nearly $4,000. If you’re interested in bringing the first queer-positive social networking app to market then click through here, and let us know if a service like Q is something you think is worth investing in the comments AFTER THE JUMP…