News and Events => Education news => Topic started by: LostInTime on March 30, 2007, 08:14:58 AM Return to Full Version
Title: Return to high school
Post by: LostInTime on March 30, 2007, 08:14:58 AM
Post by: LostInTime on March 30, 2007, 08:14:58 AM
Nearly 20 years after graduating, a hometown visit reveals just how far gay rights have come in a relatively short time. (http://www.washblade.com/2007/3-30/view/editorial/10293.cfm)
I recently returned to Howard County to speak to the Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays chapter there. It was a surreal night, returning to my childhood neighborhood where I long ago grappled with my sexual orientation and fended off bullies as a kid. If someone had told me 20 years ago that I'd be back to deliver a speech on gay rights, I wouldn't have believed it. There was an element of triumph to the evening, but my nerves were fried just the same.
What would I say to a high school student now attending my alma mater? Would they view me as old and irrelevant? Or a loser for spending those early years in the closet?
I met a group of county students, several of whom serve as president of their GSAs. It's difficult to convey how much has changed in 20 years without sounding like a geezer, but I wanted them to understand that the gay rights movement is progressing at a uniquely fast pace and that they shouldn't take for granted the freedoms they have that my generation did not.
I recently returned to Howard County to speak to the Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays chapter there. It was a surreal night, returning to my childhood neighborhood where I long ago grappled with my sexual orientation and fended off bullies as a kid. If someone had told me 20 years ago that I'd be back to deliver a speech on gay rights, I wouldn't have believed it. There was an element of triumph to the evening, but my nerves were fried just the same.
What would I say to a high school student now attending my alma mater? Would they view me as old and irrelevant? Or a loser for spending those early years in the closet?
I met a group of county students, several of whom serve as president of their GSAs. It's difficult to convey how much has changed in 20 years without sounding like a geezer, but I wanted them to understand that the gay rights movement is progressing at a uniquely fast pace and that they shouldn't take for granted the freedoms they have that my generation did not.