This is the second in a series of posts by Change.org writers, reflecting on the bullying or harassment they experienced growing up, by compiling a top ten list of the things in life that got better once they made it out of some rather homophobic settings. Check out the original piece in this series here, and if you have your own list, please feel free to include it in the comments.
1. College: Nothing in the world beats suffocating parents and intolerant high school mates than a good dose of college freedom. It’s miraculous how in a matter of literally minutes you can go from total dependence to utter freedom. You can shed everything that you don’t like about your life when you walk through that campus entrance and create a safe, like-minded environment with friends, potential lovers, and even classes that suit your little gay heart. College is the ultimate equalizer and if you can only hang on until then, things can instantaneously get better the moment you lay those extra long twin fitted sheets on your dormitory bed. (Not to mention that in college, I got laid a lot and had the best time of my life).
2. Graduate school: I know, sounds like a dorky second choice, but for me, graduate school was the most enriching experience of my life. This was a time in my life when I pushed my brain (and my time management skills) to the max. I also made lifelong friends with some pretty amazing artists and anarchists and intellectuals. I made connections that would help me in my career in media and that I still hold on to and value today. Plus, I got to attend the high-brow, snooty academic cocktail parties, where I sipped red wine and talked about the state of society and how dreadfully wrong everything and everyone was. Plus, those parties always had awesome cheese spreads.
3. Love: I Loved. And I lost. And I loved again, and lost again. But what did that famous, insightful writer once say, “Better to have had your heart ripped out of your chest and stamped on with a stiletto than never to have had that sloppy make-out session in the bathroom of the gay bar at all.” I paraphrase, but I would not for a second trade all of the loving and losing I experienced since high school. Sure, the relationships I’ve been in weren’t all perfect — hell, none of them were — but they were all worth it.
Pop quiz hot shot: What’s the most significant medical advance of the last, say, 150 years?
It was a moment greeted with celebration and joy for many when they glanced at their issue of last week’s Jewish Standard, a popular Jewish publication in New Jersey. For the first time, the publication chose to print an announcement of a same-sex couple’s intent to marry. Love, commitment, and joy. What could go wrong?
Trash talk and boxing go hand-in-hand. But in a videotaped rant, boxer Floyd Mayweather didn’t just insult rival Manny Pacquiao’s prowess in the ring, he 