| How It Started |
Our desire to help gay, lesbian, bi, and not-sure teens get to know
others like them came from something that happened at our high
school. Trey and Eric, then sophomores (college juniors now), very
masculine football players, noticed that Aaron, a freshman (college
sophomore now), was being bullied and harassed, being called
"fagboy" and other hurtful names. Aaron seemed very sad. Trey and
Eric had come out to each other shortly before that and wanted to
help Aaron in some way.
On October 3, 2002 they put an anonymous letter into Aaron’s locker,
telling him that if he was gay he was not alone, and telling him about
Brew Maxwell’s wonderful saga of the Foley-Mashburn boys. That day
happened to be Aaron’s fourteenth birthday, but Trey and Eric didn’t
know that. Aaron says that letter and Brew’s story saved his life,
because he had been planning suicide. He was going to take a whole
bottle of his antidepressant med, which he no longer takes or needs.
Soon, Trey and Eric got to personally know Aaron. Aaron was shocked
to find that Trey and Eric are gay, too. They adopted him as their
honorary brother, and he soon abandoned some effeminate
mannerisms that he had picked up because he had thought that was
the way gay boys were supposed to act.
others like them came from something that happened at our high
school. Trey and Eric, then sophomores (college juniors now), very
masculine football players, noticed that Aaron, a freshman (college
sophomore now), was being bullied and harassed, being called
"fagboy" and other hurtful names. Aaron seemed very sad. Trey and
Eric had come out to each other shortly before that and wanted to
help Aaron in some way.
On October 3, 2002 they put an anonymous letter into Aaron’s locker,
telling him that if he was gay he was not alone, and telling him about
Brew Maxwell’s wonderful saga of the Foley-Mashburn boys. That day
happened to be Aaron’s fourteenth birthday, but Trey and Eric didn’t
know that. Aaron says that letter and Brew’s story saved his life,
because he had been planning suicide. He was going to take a whole
bottle of his antidepressant med, which he no longer takes or needs.
Soon, Trey and Eric got to personally know Aaron. Aaron was shocked
to find that Trey and Eric are gay, too. They adopted him as their
honorary brother, and he soon abandoned some effeminate
mannerisms that he had picked up because he had thought that was
the way gay boys were supposed to act.
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We're in no way implying that guys who are naturally effeminate, whether gay or
straight, are to be looked down upon. It's just that Aaron had tried to adopt the
mannerisms of two gay friends in middle school who are naturally effeminate. It was
just an act on Aaron's part and he wasn't performing it well. Those two friends are in
our school this year and are benefiting from the fact that "straight-acting" gays are
coming out. No one cares how they act, and they have a lot of friends, gay and straight.
During the Christmas holidays that year, Trey and Eric came out to Eric’s best friend,
David, and to some other members of our football team. The jocks accepted that
without much problem, since they loved and respected Trey and Eric.
Our head football coach talked with Trey and Eric and told them about losing his gay
brother to suicide when he was sixteen and his brother was eighteen. He offered to help
us. It was arranged that during a school assembly, in January, 2003, Trey, Eric, Billy,
and Paul, who was then Student Council vice president, would come out to the student
body. A lot of planning went into that, but the details are not important at this point.
Aaron had already come out, by making a short, bold speech to his tormentors on his
school bus. That act of bravery actually made Aaron a hero at our school. Click here
for Aaron's bus speech.
We had come up with the idea of starting an e-mail group to make it easy for gay
students to find others like them at our school. We announced, in that assembly, the e-
mail address of our group, and that night the letters started rolling in. We also had a
lot of supportive phone calls. If you’ve read our “About Us” page you know some of the
results of our group. We’ll tell you more on the “How It Works” and “Do/Don’t” pages.
We were surprised to find that our e-mail address had been passed on to kids in other
schools in our area, and we soon had four groups going. Then, a student in our school
sent our address to his stepbrother in another state, and we helped him get a group
started for his school. The idea has spread from there, and we’re hoping this website
will speed the spread of it.
High school students are finding new friendships and relationships in their own schools,
loving the fact that they’ve brought it home and can now relate to local kids in real
situations, instead of having only far-away cyber friends who share their orientation.
NOTE: Please read our "How It Works" and "Do/Don't" pages before starting your e-mail
group.
straight, are to be looked down upon. It's just that Aaron had tried to adopt the
mannerisms of two gay friends in middle school who are naturally effeminate. It was
just an act on Aaron's part and he wasn't performing it well. Those two friends are in
our school this year and are benefiting from the fact that "straight-acting" gays are
coming out. No one cares how they act, and they have a lot of friends, gay and straight.
During the Christmas holidays that year, Trey and Eric came out to Eric’s best friend,
David, and to some other members of our football team. The jocks accepted that
without much problem, since they loved and respected Trey and Eric.
Our head football coach talked with Trey and Eric and told them about losing his gay
brother to suicide when he was sixteen and his brother was eighteen. He offered to help
us. It was arranged that during a school assembly, in January, 2003, Trey, Eric, Billy,
and Paul, who was then Student Council vice president, would come out to the student
body. A lot of planning went into that, but the details are not important at this point.
Aaron had already come out, by making a short, bold speech to his tormentors on his
school bus. That act of bravery actually made Aaron a hero at our school. Click here
for Aaron's bus speech.
We had come up with the idea of starting an e-mail group to make it easy for gay
students to find others like them at our school. We announced, in that assembly, the e-
mail address of our group, and that night the letters started rolling in. We also had a
lot of supportive phone calls. If you’ve read our “About Us” page you know some of the
results of our group. We’ll tell you more on the “How It Works” and “Do/Don’t” pages.
We were surprised to find that our e-mail address had been passed on to kids in other
schools in our area, and we soon had four groups going. Then, a student in our school
sent our address to his stepbrother in another state, and we helped him get a group
started for his school. The idea has spread from there, and we’re hoping this website
will speed the spread of it.
High school students are finding new friendships and relationships in their own schools,
loving the fact that they’ve brought it home and can now relate to local kids in real
situations, instead of having only far-away cyber friends who share their orientation.
NOTE: Please read our "How It Works" and "Do/Don't" pages before starting your e-mail
group.