Dr Gee om The Healthy Bear shar his story of growg up gay a straight world. Could your story help save the life of a gay teenager?
Contents:
- MY LIFE STORI 001| GROWG UP GAY
- GROWG UP GAY
- THKG ANEW: GROWG UP GAY A CHRISTIAN HOEHOLD
- THE HEALTHY BEAR ON GROWG UP GAY
- MATTHEW TODD ON GROWG UP GAY: "WE ARE STRAPPED SI A CULTURAL STRAJACKET"
MY LIFE STORI 001| GROWG UP GAY
* growing up gay stories *
Now, as an adult, I primarily intify as gay, and I feel strongly that havg those experienc durg my formative years helped shape my sexual inty. Still, as an adult, whenever I've brought this up wh my straight (and generally gay-iendly) buddi, they whout exceptn ny ever havg had siar experienc.
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The only thg on my md was if anyone else felt the same way as I did bee no one seemed like they uld relate other than adults who were already out as gay themselv – which left me feelg all alone. It was a plex thought if I’m hont bee they brought me up only knowg that a man uld be wh a woman; unls you had already had openly gay members of a fay, or your school had openly discsed .
GROWG UP GAY
Out of shame and uncertaty, I hid the closet (didn’t tell anyone I was gay) for another 5 years, before tstg a few iends and exprsg myself more. Somerville was a llege town, which meant was overn wh gays and open-md tellectuals that never qutned who I was. I image my iends watchg He-Man, and sudnly there's a flash of heavenly light, out of which appears a betiful faerie wh a msage om on high, "Gurl, you're gay!
The wrer Christopher Isherwood once said, and I'm paraphrasg, but that homosexualy uldn't be narrowly fed around the sex act. I was for all tents and purpos a gay person, but I thk there was still a sense of hatn, still the smallt b of crge when I said those three words, "I am gay. The first time I ever me ntact wh the word "gay" was around middle school when I started to watch Amerin TV shows like Friends, Will & Grace, and Queer as Folk.
I even tried masturbatg to a picture of Madonna, and I now realize that's probably the gayt thg I've ever done.
THKG ANEW: GROWG UP GAY A CHRISTIAN HOEHOLD
Whout an inty, I searched for one and found a temporary inty Jacquele as her boyiend, agast my sister's wish, who was a sophomore.
THE HEALTHY BEAR ON GROWG UP GAY
" As bter as she was havg never land a lead the school play, Jacquele told several people that I was gay, and the word spread to my sister, which turn spread to my Mom. But on the ter, I was able to see that if I uld jt get to London, there were all the amazg, lorful, creative gay people that were jt like me.
We would s and watch TV, and if a gay person me on, he would say nasty ments about them, tryg to look like a big man.
MATTHEW TODD ON GROWG UP GAY: "WE ARE STRAPPED SI A CULTURAL STRAJACKET"
I'd spend hours every week wh him, learng about what meant to be gay and most importantly, that was ok to be gay.
The next thg I knew, three months had passed, and my iend and his parents helped me fd another fay to take me and foster me - a gay man named Pl, whom I now ll my dad, and his iend Sarah. I feel tly blsed and uldn't be happier wh the, as an openly gay artist, I try to put everythg I've experienced to my mic, the good and the bad.
"The highway to homo, " as one of my iends affectnately lls , was a b different for me as was for everyone else. That perspective started changg when I started volunteerg at the lol zoo my hometown, and I met my first gay person.