As a college student, I don’t have a lot of time to catch up on political news. If I have a 30-minute break, I’m always going to choose Netflix over skimming The New York Times articles. Because of this lack of time, I didn’t know much about the Democratic hopefuls, so I pledged to watch the Democratic debate this past Tuesday.

I went into the debate with limited knowledge. From what I heard, I worried the Democratic Party lacked a serious candidate: Bernie is a declared Socialist, and Hillary has a questionable history.

I heated up my dinner and snuggled into bed, prepared to begin forming my opinions about the candidates. As they took their podiums, I saw Hillary Clinton front and center, and I was strangely overcome with emotion. Don’t get me wrong; I’m a very motivated feminist, but I certainly didn’t expect to be overwhelmed with joy seeing a strong and powerful woman who had earned the center podium.

By the end of the debate, I knew I would be supporting Hillary Clinton in the race for November 2016. When advocating for her, I’ve been surprised by the number of people who have responded to me with: “You only like her because she’s a woman.” At first, I didn’t know how to respond. It was meant negatively, an accusation of my political preference. Not only do these people believe they have a right to police my opinion, but they also believe my reasoning to be misguided.

Of course I don’t only support Hillary Clinton because she is a woman. It would be misguided and sexist to blindly follow someone based on gender, race, nationality, religion, etc. The presidency requires considerable and varied experience, and I believe all candidates on the stage Tuesday night proved themselves worthy of a nomination. However, it would also be wrong of me to completely ignore the gender of the candidates.

Gender is important. Although women have increasingly begun to populate the most prestigious positions of leadership previously unavailable to them, one has never been able to reach the highest position of all: the presidency. Women who strive to that seat are painfully aware of that. The woman who earns the title will not take it for granted. The presidency has different value to it; she who earns it knows what she and millions of women before her had to overcome to reach that moment and keep that in mind as she performs her job.

I would be lying if I said that Hillary’s identity as a woman doesn’t influence my decision to support her. In this context, I believe her gender identity will push her to be an extraordinary president. She will have a lot to prove, and I believe that will motivate her to succeed.

I support Hillary. I support her because she is a woman, and people need to recognize that as a valid reason.