It gets better

[xkot]

This article linked below is exactly what many people need to read. I encourage you to check it out. I'd also like to share why it resonates so much with me

Comments

[swanjun]

I feel bad for buying so completely the false Scott, the one who just couldn't find a girl he liked. I guess in my mind being gay wasn't a big deal so I thought you would've said so if you were, but I didn't understand the inner conflict you were going through about it. I'm sorry if I was a shitty friend in any way.

[xkot]

Well I wouldn't say I was false... I was trying hard to be that. It was my real intention.

You were a great friend and not shitty at all :)

[swanjun]

Poor choice of words on my part. I didn't mean that you were duplicitous or fake or anything like that. It just didn't occur to me that there was a gap between what you were saying and what you were actually feeling. :)

And thanks. I am greatly relieved. :)

[keanubear]

Thanks for posting this.

[marian333]

Not to detract from your really, really wonderful post...but...

"In the bible Jesus condemned divorce and said further relationships were sinful, but I have never heard of a modern church pressuring divorced people to remain celibate."

This still happens in Catholicism. My leaving my spouse is a BFD to many members of my family because they're Catholic. However, I will absolutely state without reservation that even the most conservative parish gives FAR less shit to anyone divorcing than they do homosexuals.

But it's still stupid policies which serve only to compound misery for people. I also think as someone who is divorcing (from a large Catholic family) that at 38, I'm much better prepared emotionally to deal with that fallout (especially as a non believer myself) than a teenager being told they're evil, immoral and hellbound...unless they remain celibate and alone.

I had a lot of friends as a teen who went through that suffering, and it still enrages & sickens me today.

[xkot]

Wow... San Antonio being so Catholic, I'm amazed I haven't heard about this from more people. That's crazy. I hope you told the people who gave you crap to STFU.

[clintswan]

rock on my friend

[riverafire]

Thanks for posting this. I often wonder how different things would have been if all the lgbt kids in our hs had been out. I think there were lots of kids having this same struggle back then. Imagine how great it would have been if we could have provided some support to each other. I'm sorry it was such a struggle for you for so long, but so glad that you have finally found the happiness you deserve.

[xkot]

When I think of how I became religious in high school due to the influence of the McConnells, it feels like such a blessing and a curse. They were a great example of a healthy and stable family that I hadn't ever had. They were very kind to me. But I wish I hadn't bought so fully into the religion when I became friends with Ray and Seth. Things could have been better if there had been some kind of equivalent support I could have had from gay mentors.

[riverafire]

& apparently there were tons of queer kids in our high school. I don't know how many people you have friended on facebook from back in the day, but the number of people who list themselves in same sex relationships is mind boggling to me. It makes me sad to think of all the time I wasted being a closet case surrounded by so many other closet cases.

[xkot]

Yeah... and we had so many GLBT teachers who apparently weren't allowed to be fully out to us, or were very careful about how it was discussed.