Averagedrew
October 5th, 2005, 02:18 PM
When I attended Lake Washington High School, people knew me as Mike Dalire.
On my recent visit to Seattle, I read this article, and I started shaking. I have to tell my story. This is what I have to say about my own experiences:
On 18 April 1988, I came out as a result of a local TV station covering the Commission on Children and Youth's hearings regarding Gay and Lesbian youth. I had talked about how difficult to find acceptance and support in the burbs, and hoped that the City of Seattle would help lead the way to make it better.
The backlash was almost intolerable. The administration, who knew that my parents didn't know that I was on the 5 o'clock news, forced me to come out to them, fearing my emotional instability. Parents were trying to get me expelled, suspended, etc. because I had the gall to wear my letterman's jacket during the coverage and subsequent interview. The administration almost denied me the right to march in commencement, which was in 9 weeks.
The students were almost as bad. The school-sponsored bible study, dominated by attendees of Overlake Christian Church, prayed for me. My home number ended up on gay phone sex lines. I was insulted and humiliated in the school paper, and when I was invited to defend myself, most of my defense was edited out. And from what I understand, a new teacher was denied tenure because she stood up for me. This is what happened when a single church, where most of the faculty, staff and students attend, are allowed to assert its influence.
Remembering the days after that, I withdrew to protect myself. I lost as many friends at the school, as I gained many outside to get through. If it wasn't for two teachers and my friends outside of school, and a couple of phone calls from students too scared to publicly voice their support for me, I woudn't have gotten through it.
I swore after commencement I would never step foot in that school again, and have kept true to that promise.
I also remember taking a class called "Comparative Cultures and Religions", which most of the students, also Overlake Christian attendees, both in and out of the class, objected to because it didn't paint Christianity in a favorable light. For me, it opened up my eyes to the world and made me want to understand it.
I also became involved with Seattle's gay politic, working on such projects as Lambert House, in which I am a founding member. Because of my coming out experience, I studied to become a journalist major, dropped out, and came back as a theatre major. It was working with words that inspired me, both the spoken and the written, that made me compelled to speak its truth.
I now live and work in the South, as an actor, director, and a part owner of a special effects business.
The lesson in all this: I never let the fundies run my life. I just kept plugging along. Just as L-Dub survived my coming out, just as the fundies keep imposing their values and will amongst those who would rather them go way, L-Dub's Gay and Straight Alliance will survive and co-exist with the school-sponsored bible study group (if they still have one) and those that oppose the GSA.
To L-Dub's GSA: I wish you luck in trying to make things better, in the same manner I tried to make it better. Don't let anyone deter you from this mission. It is a misson worth fighting for.
On my recent visit to Seattle, I read this article, and I started shaking. I have to tell my story. This is what I have to say about my own experiences:
On 18 April 1988, I came out as a result of a local TV station covering the Commission on Children and Youth's hearings regarding Gay and Lesbian youth. I had talked about how difficult to find acceptance and support in the burbs, and hoped that the City of Seattle would help lead the way to make it better.
The backlash was almost intolerable. The administration, who knew that my parents didn't know that I was on the 5 o'clock news, forced me to come out to them, fearing my emotional instability. Parents were trying to get me expelled, suspended, etc. because I had the gall to wear my letterman's jacket during the coverage and subsequent interview. The administration almost denied me the right to march in commencement, which was in 9 weeks.
The students were almost as bad. The school-sponsored bible study, dominated by attendees of Overlake Christian Church, prayed for me. My home number ended up on gay phone sex lines. I was insulted and humiliated in the school paper, and when I was invited to defend myself, most of my defense was edited out. And from what I understand, a new teacher was denied tenure because she stood up for me. This is what happened when a single church, where most of the faculty, staff and students attend, are allowed to assert its influence.
Remembering the days after that, I withdrew to protect myself. I lost as many friends at the school, as I gained many outside to get through. If it wasn't for two teachers and my friends outside of school, and a couple of phone calls from students too scared to publicly voice their support for me, I woudn't have gotten through it.
I swore after commencement I would never step foot in that school again, and have kept true to that promise.
I also remember taking a class called "Comparative Cultures and Religions", which most of the students, also Overlake Christian attendees, both in and out of the class, objected to because it didn't paint Christianity in a favorable light. For me, it opened up my eyes to the world and made me want to understand it.
I also became involved with Seattle's gay politic, working on such projects as Lambert House, in which I am a founding member. Because of my coming out experience, I studied to become a journalist major, dropped out, and came back as a theatre major. It was working with words that inspired me, both the spoken and the written, that made me compelled to speak its truth.
I now live and work in the South, as an actor, director, and a part owner of a special effects business.
The lesson in all this: I never let the fundies run my life. I just kept plugging along. Just as L-Dub survived my coming out, just as the fundies keep imposing their values and will amongst those who would rather them go way, L-Dub's Gay and Straight Alliance will survive and co-exist with the school-sponsored bible study group (if they still have one) and those that oppose the GSA.
To L-Dub's GSA: I wish you luck in trying to make things better, in the same manner I tried to make it better. Don't let anyone deter you from this mission. It is a misson worth fighting for.