Being queer in today’s day and age isn’t as rare as it once was half a century ago. Our society has changed to accept those who are queer and try to keep discrimination from hurting the majority of the queer community. Although there are attempts, people continue to discriminate against sexuality and gender identity.
When it comes to high schoolers, it’s harder to know if others are trying to hurt you or are unknowingly doing so. Queer kids usually come down to the conclusion that they have two choices: stay in the closet, or come out. Both choices have their consequences.
The term “staying in the closet” means to keep your identity a secret from basically everyone. Even though it may seem easier, you would have to bite your tongue every time someone teases or jokes around with the subject. The stress of having to watch what you say, hide whom you like or love, or hide what you feel can make kids jaded.
A Liberty student who prefers to stay anonymous has struggled with their self identity and sometimes believes life would be easier if they had stayed hidden.
“Sometimes I wish I never came out. Maybe then I could be confident enough to join a sport or do things normally without others judging me or disgusted by me,” the anonymous student said.
Coming out is a whole different whirlwind of problems. Some people you thought were your closest friends may leave, your family could be in denial, you stress about who could accept you now after you have shown yourself.
“I haven’t been affected since I came out, but I think what you should do is just stop caring about other people,” Abby O’Connell (9) said.
Even though there are struggles, there are school programs like GSA that can help you feel like you belong somewhere and you don’t have to constantly worry about your identity. Matthew Eversole is the sponsor of GSA at Liberty.
“I was approached by Dr. Nelson and Mr. Schumacher about being the sponsor and I agreed. My brother and a few close friends could have benefitted from something like this,” Eversole said.
