With all that’s happened recently regarding bullying and teen suicides, it’s important to share our experiences with others. We all know that the teen years are the hardest for LGBT people, but we also know, as Dan Savage’s brilliant campaign has proven, "it gets better". That’s something we need to keep reinforcing with LGBT teens.
I remember so many times in my teen years being depressed beyond reason, and I also thought about suicide. At that point in my life, facing the prejudice, hatred and bullying, it seemed as if I could actually see the course of my entire life, and that it would always be as dark and difficult as it was in those lonely, desperate years. Thankfully, that wasn’t true. There is a happy life on the other side of that darkness.
Constance McMillen was a teenager facing homophobia and prejudice head on earlier this year, when she challenged authority and social acceptability by daring to ask if she could take her girlfriend to the senior prom. She was told no to taking her girlfriend to the prom, no to holding her girlfriend’s hand and no to wearing the tuxedos they’d planned to wear. This is in rural Mississippi, where LGBT acceptance can be especially difficult to find.
The ACLU got involved, resulting in a court case. Constance faced rejection from her fellow students, as well as most of the parents and a national spotlight suddenly invading every aspect of her life. But she stuck with it and in the end, she won. Constance was awarded a cash settlement and the school changed their policies.
Now, Constance has been honored by Glamour Magazine as one of the Women of the Year for 2010. To all those teens out there suffering in any way, please believe that IT GETS BETTER…
Here’s a quote from the article…
McMillen plans to keep speaking out, hoping to spread tolerance—and maybe even save lives. “I heard, growing up, that gay people can’t go to heaven,” she recalls. “Even my grandma didn’t agree with [my lesbianism]. But she said, ‘If that’s who you are, I’ll be here. I’ll love you regardless.’”
Read the entire article HERE
