High School was either heaven or hell depending on who you talk to. Freshman year could be very difficult. Different classrooms, eating lunch in a noisy cafeteria for the first time and the pressure of making it into the in crowd. The secure world of elementary school was gone and left in its place was the daily stress trying to open a combination lock, grabbing the right books and making it to class on time.
As if the first day wasn't bad enough, in homeroom sat a beautiful girl. You know the kind. She was blessed with perfect everything. Girls wanted to be her. And boys wanted to have her. The rest worried about frizzy hair and zits. Not her. And what amazed us was how friendly she was to everyone. One morning while waiting for first bell I saw her talking to a boy who could have been her twin. She brought him over and introduced him. Her older brother was a junior. They came to school together everyday. It was obvious they were very close. He waited every afternoon to take her home before going to work.
The months passed quickly and soon it was winter break. Teachers piled on the homework that included lots of reading and term papers. Some break. Two weeks away from school and friends. Halfway through a snow storm dumped enough white powder to keep most housebound. It was not long before boredom set in and returning to school couldn't come fast enough.
That first morning back there was something palpably different. Students speaking in hushed tones. Odd sounding laughter. By lunchtime the whole school knew that some student had been seen in a club frequented by gays. Who? And how was it found out? After all if this student was seen wouldn't it make sense that the person who reported the sighting was gay too? By the end of the day the name was known by enough kids and it spread like wild fire. It was the protective brother of Miss Perfect.
The story was he was seen coming out of the club by a senior who was driving by at just the right moment. In no time at all the rumor mill was busy. Apparently it didn't take long for word to make it to the school office.
He never returned to school. He transferred to another school and took a job as a window dresser in a downtown department store. His sister transferred too. She never contacted any of her friends after that. Shortly before moving away I heard his sister married and her bother was not invited to the wedding.
This happened in New York many years ago. When being outed came with harsh consequences. If you were found out life would never be the same. Bullies and bigots made sure of that. And now a law has passed allowing gays to marry. So many years between then and now. I had not thought of that incident in so long, but watching the important vote that awful moment in time returned. Tears ran down my face. I wondered if he was able to reconnect with his family. Were they able to support him? Had he found love? It would be cruel if he had not. I closed my eyes and prayed that he was living the life he deserved.
So for those opposed to this new law ask yourselves how does this law hurt you. What rights do you lose? I JUST DON'T GET IT
Hey there, I enjoyed your article. Quite besides the point: My daughter is starting high school this year and I can't learn enough of how high school is like in this country so I can support her. Of course, most of the time, "support" may mean "just get out of my way". I hear you however, it is very sad something like that could ousted someone from high school. I am following your blog. Check out mine when you have a minute. All the best.
ReplyDelete