Gay in School (September 1997) -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 9/1/1997
Last Visited: 10/30/2008
Dan told the family he was gay.
Mom asked him not totell my sister and I, but he could not hold his tongue., He felt I wasshowing signs similar to those he had gone through growing up eight yearsahead of me.
He wanted to give me guidance. (Plus, he really needed a newtoaster oven!)
My brother whom I loved and respected, a man studying to be a psychiatrist,no less was telling me my emotions were not sinful or wrong.
"The choice,"he said, "is not whether homosexuality is right or wrong, it is whether ornot we choose to live in repression of our natural inclination or inaffirmation of those god-given attributes."
For the first time in my life I felt truly alive.
I was elated because Iwas not alone.
I chose not to tell my mother that of her four sons, two weregay.
Mother was becoming increasingly suspicious of my frequent letters to him.
She acted on her hunches and opened one.
Later, she spoke to me alone.
"Iread your letter to Dan."
There was a pregnant pause as the ramifications of this act expressed itselfin my wide open mouth.
Then she yelled.
"You're a Goddamn faggot!"
Each word stung as if she were slapping me. Pandemonium erupted.
Mom and Iwere yelling and weeping.
...
My partner, Dan Bell, andI have attended functions outside the school and have been accorded the samerespect given married couples.