Here is a reprint of the email one of the organizations I work with just received. Sometimes I really wonder if my reader’s understand what we’re actually battling against in LGBT Youth organizations. Sometimes I wonder if they really believe that the atrocities in my books are just a warped imagination and not a reflection of the devastation still being wrought on our community. And many times I wonder if we will ever wake up, put down our latte’s and actually do something beside give lip service to these tragedies.
In the end it comes down to a simple fact. If we can’t protect the least and most vulnerable of our community, then we have zero chance of making anything more than plastic strides towards equality. How can we ask those behind us to continue the struggle when we never looked back to make sure they were okay? You can’t win a war if there are no survivors.
“Hi my name is ______. I am 17 years old and I have just been forced to come out to my parents about my sexual orientation. On Sunday my father found out I have been seeing a girl from ______ Alabama he made me give him my phone and unlock it so that he could go through all of my text messages and pictures. He found out about the girl I have been seeing for the last 4 months. When he found out he waited a few days to tell my mom. Then on monday night he finally told her. She freaked out.She beat me and she told me how disgusting I was and that I would never be welcome in the family ever again. My whole family (brother included who has known for a while that I am gay) turned against me.They told me they would rather have me dead then be with a girl. They also told me I would never be accepted in life. I had no where to go so I decided to leave and never come back. My family took everything away from me, my phone, my computer everything. They told me hey were going to lock me up and never let me out of the house until I was 18 they said they were going to make me go straight.I’m terrified so in the middle of the night I stole my brothers truck and left I got someone to pick me up and one of my friends brought the truck back. I can’t go back there. I got one of my friends parents to come and get me …May 8, 2012