This morning, while perusing blogs I like to read, I came across this photo and the article that accompanies it... It took me a moment or two to reconcile the feelings and emotions that this photograph evoked and awakened deep within my memories.
This is a photo that simply and eloquently describes a time in my own life when I was bullied and tormented by peers and even my own brother because I was "different" than the other boys. Like many before me and sadly many after me, I too sought an escape from a life that seemed to offer only unbearable pain, hatred and self-loathing. At thirteen years old, I tried to end the pain in the only way I could think of - suicide.
I survived it, and I am thankful that I did, for had I not, I would never have known the joys of love. And although love in my life has been bittersweet at best, there still lives in my heart the knowledge that all I endured during those fearful and confusing years of my young life was worth enduring to see the day that is so clearly dawning... a day when it will be okay to be as you are...
For those who today still struggle as I did those many years ago, I am thankful that there are resources they can turn to. And I am saddened that there are still so many who never find them and who lose the battle to be free to be who they are.
The lessons that I learned almost by accident were that truth and reality are never as bad as your fears... Indeed, as I almost learned too late, I was not alone and though my fears were in some ways very real, I learned that "a life lived in fear is a life half-lived."
Resources for GLBT youth and young adults:
The Trevor Project - Help for young people considering suicide
I Think I Might Be Gay... Now What Do I Do?
I Think I Might Be Lesbian... Now What Do I Do?
Violence & abuse in schools
Facts about gay students
When a student comes out to you...
Be Yourself - questions and answers for gay/bi youth
My Child is GAY! Now What Do I Do? - resources for parents
Report It! Harassment & violence in schools
Creating Safer Schools
Safe Schools
How Homophobia Hurts Teens
Famous Gay People
This is a photo that simply and eloquently describes a time in my own life when I was bullied and tormented by peers and even my own brother because I was "different" than the other boys. Like many before me and sadly many after me, I too sought an escape from a life that seemed to offer only unbearable pain, hatred and self-loathing. At thirteen years old, I tried to end the pain in the only way I could think of - suicide.
I survived it, and I am thankful that I did, for had I not, I would never have known the joys of love. And although love in my life has been bittersweet at best, there still lives in my heart the knowledge that all I endured during those fearful and confusing years of my young life was worth enduring to see the day that is so clearly dawning... a day when it will be okay to be as you are...
For those who today still struggle as I did those many years ago, I am thankful that there are resources they can turn to. And I am saddened that there are still so many who never find them and who lose the battle to be free to be who they are.
The lessons that I learned almost by accident were that truth and reality are never as bad as your fears... Indeed, as I almost learned too late, I was not alone and though my fears were in some ways very real, I learned that "a life lived in fear is a life half-lived."
Resources for GLBT youth and young adults:
The Trevor Project - Help for young people considering suicide
I Think I Might Be Gay... Now What Do I Do?
I Think I Might Be Lesbian... Now What Do I Do?
Violence & abuse in schools
Facts about gay students
When a student comes out to you...
Be Yourself - questions and answers for gay/bi youth
My Child is GAY! Now What Do I Do? - resources for parents
Report It! Harassment & violence in schools
Creating Safer Schools
Safe Schools
How Homophobia Hurts Teens
Famous Gay People
"Fear Eats the Soul"
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