the permanance of words
"I'm a supporter of gay rights. And not a closet supporter either. From the time I was a kid, I have never been able to understand attacks upon the gay community. There are so many qualities that make up a human being... by the time I get through with all the things that I really admire about people, what they do with their private parts is probably so low on the list that it is irrelevant." - Paul Newman
"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" - Ernest Gaines
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I’m officially coming out in my school’s newspaper. The permanence of it didn’t really hit me until the student editor of the paper, the paper’s advisor and then the advisor of my Gay-Straight-Alliance all came to talk to me about it. They were nervous that I was leaving myself open for harassment and that I wasn’t realizing that my name would be attached to the word “gay” in print, accessible to anyone at any time, forever. I decided to go along with the article I wrote anyway. I suppose it's one thing to say you’re gay, but entirely another to have it in print. I can’t take it back. I can’t hide that article if, one day, I marry a man (highly unlikely) or run for some sort of governmental office under the pretense of heterosexuality. I don’t want to be viewed as solely as gay by all of the administration, students or parents who don’t know me personally. I would like to have the chance to be known for the parts of myself that are completely uninfluenced by my sexuality, like my intellect or my personality. What about my character? What about my content? Of course, I’ll post a copy of the article when it goes to press because, as is always the case in politics, they censored down my original article (about 700 words) down to an article that is about 500 words and contains very little of what I originally wrote. I actually re-read what they did censor and changed it a little, finally "okaying" the changes that would go to print. In the politics of life, sometimes you have to lose some in order to win some. Am I really strong enough for the possible backlash that everyone is trying to cape me from?
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"The next time someone asks you, 'Hey, howdja get to be a homosexual anyway?' tell them, 'Homosexuals are chosen first on talent, then interview...then the swimsuit and evening gown competition pretty much gets rid of the rest of them.'" - Karen Williams
"It's hard enough to be taken seriously in the struggle for gay rights without having a bunch of straight girls running around kissing each other to get the attention of the boys and videocameras." - M. Robin D'Antan
"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" - Ernest Gaines
_______________________________________________________
I’m officially coming out in my school’s newspaper. The permanence of it didn’t really hit me until the student editor of the paper, the paper’s advisor and then the advisor of my Gay-Straight-Alliance all came to talk to me about it. They were nervous that I was leaving myself open for harassment and that I wasn’t realizing that my name would be attached to the word “gay” in print, accessible to anyone at any time, forever. I decided to go along with the article I wrote anyway. I suppose it's one thing to say you’re gay, but entirely another to have it in print. I can’t take it back. I can’t hide that article if, one day, I marry a man (highly unlikely) or run for some sort of governmental office under the pretense of heterosexuality. I don’t want to be viewed as solely as gay by all of the administration, students or parents who don’t know me personally. I would like to have the chance to be known for the parts of myself that are completely uninfluenced by my sexuality, like my intellect or my personality. What about my character? What about my content? Of course, I’ll post a copy of the article when it goes to press because, as is always the case in politics, they censored down my original article (about 700 words) down to an article that is about 500 words and contains very little of what I originally wrote. I actually re-read what they did censor and changed it a little, finally "okaying" the changes that would go to print. In the politics of life, sometimes you have to lose some in order to win some. Am I really strong enough for the possible backlash that everyone is trying to cape me from?
_______________________________________________________
"The next time someone asks you, 'Hey, howdja get to be a homosexual anyway?' tell them, 'Homosexuals are chosen first on talent, then interview...then the swimsuit and evening gown competition pretty much gets rid of the rest of them.'" - Karen Williams
"It's hard enough to be taken seriously in the struggle for gay rights without having a bunch of straight girls running around kissing each other to get the attention of the boys and videocameras." - M. Robin D'Antan