A bubbly blog about boys, bleeding, and the basics between.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Straight Talks 101


We all have those moments in our life that we look back on and reflect upon with a lot of love and compassion. College was not that time for me. Don't get me wrong... I made some amazing friends (and some life long foes) and I also learned a lot, not just about my trade, but about who I am today. But come on. College?!?!

Anywho, In my senior year I took a class with one of my besties. Let's call her.... Schmizz. (I didn't ask her permission to talk about her, although I'm sure she would be totes cool with it). This class was called "straight talks 101," but it was basically gay studies. What made this class different then others was the outreach portion. We were required, as a part of our grade, to go to different classes and discuss our personal experiences of homosexuality: whether it was a family member, a close friend, or ourselves.

They had former classmates come back and do a demonstration of a "straight talk" for us. One phrase kept popping up in every speech: "Ever since I was little I knew I was different."

Well, not to say that for some people that isn't the God's honest truth... But for me, I always knew I was different as well, but that's because I wore a helmet until I was 13...



Those of you reading this who have hemophilia know what I'm talking about. All parents raise their children differently, and it's all because they love their children. Born in 1983, I was just coming into "bumps and bruises" territory right as the GRID/AIDS situation was effecting hemophiliacs. So as a child growing up in this time period, I wore a helmet and knee pads. Did they protect me? Yes. Did they make me a target for teasing and bullying? Also, yes. So despite people thinking I'm gay at age 8 and calling me a fairy, I also had to deal with "helmet head" and "bubble boy." So yeah, I knew I was different, but coming to terms with my sexuality was the FURTHEST thing from my mind.


Okay. Sorry. Sometimes I get off on a tangent. But here's the moral of the story. We're all a little different... And whether you are coming out of the closet or coming out of your (literal) shell know that everything is gonna turn out okay.

I did my straight talk. About being gay, but also about being a hemophiliac. They are, surprisingly enough, very similar. Why?! Because it's not something you see on the outside that makes you unique, it's what's going on inside. And it's those characteristics that make us all the more normal.

Yeah. I got preachy. It'll happen. Next post will be way more fun. I promise. ;-)

Till we meet again...

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