The internet does not need yet another page full of writing advice.
What the Internet DOES need is more good examples
for gay teens.
So that page up there called “Writerly Stuff,” is going bye-bye.
It will be re-christened The Out Post, and will be for anyone who needs to know that it gets better.
And how. And what the journey might look like. And how to find help.
And how to protect yourself from the ugliness and the Should-Monsters out there.
If you know me and Byron, you know that we’ve been together 26 years.
More than just a number, it’s a lifetime of outlasting and triumphing. Being gay is something we deal with every single day. We can choose to live quietly, or we can choose to be ambassadors and represent (yo).
When You’re Gay, You Never Stop Coming Out
You come out every time you pay a shared bill, answer a question on a form,
order flowers for your spouse, talk to insurance people,
attend a work-related event with your spouse, buy a house, start a new job,
rent an apartment, sit together at a restaurant, see a doctor, buy a car,
travel or visit each other in the hospital. Just to name a few. It’s never-ending.
And after a lifetime of being gay, I’ve gotten rather good at it!
I can’t help but think we have some hope to share, and maybe a few answers. If I help one lonely kid out there, then it’s worth it. Even just one. It’s a bit scary for me to share myself so personally, actually. But what I wouldn’t have given for that one lifeline when I was 15. For someone to have told me that… it gets better.
Not every gay teen is going to need that help. Maybe someday, none will. But I’ll carve out a little space of positive reinforcement here for those who stumble onto my page.
As my friend Ellen taught me, we all float about as boats on the ocean of life, not realizing that we’re all actually a lighthouse …to somebody out there.
All those clichés… this little light of mine, hiding your light under a bushel, etc… I’ve been afraid of standing out and being counted for most of my life. I’ve been too busy looking for the lighthouse, not realizing I am my own lighthouse. And as a happy, well-adjusted adult, I’ve got a job to do.
~Shephard
(page should launch by the end of the week)
The post I’m Done Being a Boat appeared first on Shephard Summers.