Sad. Mad. Glad.
Those were my emotional flash card options when I first started therapy. I would tell stories about growing up and my therapist would ask me how I felt. I’d start, “Well I think. . .” That’s when she started with the cards.
No matter what I think about the causes of the horrible cluster of recent gay suicides – about LGBT bullying, cyberspace, privacy, gay youth, Rev. Eddie Long, schools, the Catholic Church, anti-social networks – I feel sad for the families who have lost their sons and daughters, mad that bullying is still so prevalent, yet glad that everyone is talking about it.
I have been struck by the conversations I have had with my family and straight friends, who tell me how disturbing it is, how they worry about their children and grandchildren and wonder what can be done. I hang up the phone and look at it and think, “What do you think I’ve been talking about all these years?”
What they think is that the battle is won. They look at me and my dear partner and think, “You’re out. You’re comfortable. You’ve got a life.”
These suicides provide another flashpoint in our movement for full moral equality. This October 11, on yet another National Coming Out Day, I intend to come out to my family again and remind them that our battle is not over and that we need their help. Perhaps I’ll finally tell them my own stories of being bullied.
If you liked this article by Kate Clinton, a columnist for The Progressive magazine, check out some of her other pieces by clicking here.