Fluidity Teen: A Website to Look Out For

Today as I was clicking around the internet I stumbled across this website geared toward gay youth.The site is called Fluidity Teen and it seems that the purpose of this website is to allow GLBTQ teens to express themselves through the telling of their personal stories, poetry and any other literary work. The site also has a blog that they post to and some videos that can be watched.
The site itself is fairly new and doesn't have many entries and there aren't any submissions yet, but I think that this site is headed in the right direction and could be a great creative outlet and resource for GLBTQ youth. I'll provide the link below. Be sure to share this website with any gay teens that you know. This is a website to keep an eye out for.


http://fluidityteen.wordpress.com/

The Kind of Heroes You Find on a Beach

I have a few heroes in my life. My parents, my sisters, my friends, and other people who I look up to and can count on; but this isn't about them. This is about two people, one of who has always been my hero, and the other who I just realized is my hero.

Over the summer my entire family (everyone on my moms side) went on a house boat for ten days. . On a warm night after everyone else had gone to bed I went out to sit on the beach we were docked on with my aunt and uncle. The conversation was the usual joking and telling the stories we had been saving up for a year, at least until my Aunt broached the subject of my sexuality. 

My aunt and I have always been pretty close, we were inseparable growing up and I adored and admired her more than anything. She has always been my hero, so I suppose it should come as no shock that she was one of the first people to figure out that I am gay. However, even though she knew, we never really touched on the subject. That night however, it was different. 

My aunt asked me about my love life and we began discussing women and my feelings on the woman I was with at that time. The way my aunt and uncle talked to me made me feel so normal, which was incredible of them. For the first time I was talking to two people outside of my immediate family and I felt so normal, I could not have asked them for more; but then again I wouldn't be writing this if there wasn't more. 

I don't remember how we got on the topic but my Aunt and Uncle said something to me that I will never ever forget. They both looked me straight in the eye and told me that when I met the right girl and I wanted to bring her home for Christmas they were going to make sure that, that happened. They were going to make it ok for that to happen because I am no different than anyone else in the family. In that moment, on that beach, in the middle of Utah, they unwittingly became my heroes.

I'm not sure they know how much that meant to me, to hear them say that and to know that I am loved, accepted and considered normal. It was so much more than I could have ever asked for. I have never told them how much that night meant to me, or that when I am in despair over the way I or someone else is being treated in regards to their sexuality, that I remember that conversation and it gives me strength. They are my heroes. I hope that those of you reading this can also find some kind of strength in this story or in one of your own. That is, after all, why I am sharing it. 

Why Not Me Poem

So I know it has been an incredibly long time since I kept up with this blog but I am back and am planning on keeping up with everything a little better. For now I am posting a poem that I wrote.

Why Not Me?

What makes me any different,

From the man you want her to be with?

Look past my breasts,

Look past the fact that I don’t have

Something between my legs,

And tell me what makes him better

Than me?

Did he love her any more

Then I do?

No, impossible.

I love her with everything

I have between my ribs.

I would do anything

For her, can’t you see that?

So why not me?

I am going to college

And getting a degree;

I’m going to be a teacher!

And I know what you’re thinking

Teachers hardly make a living

But I will!

And I will make sure

She never wants for anything.

So again I ask you,

Why not me?

I make your daughter smile

And I make her laugh.

I make her feel loved

And safe.

I won’t take her for granted

I promise you that.

Now again I must ask

Why not me?

I am intelligent.

I can hold a conversation

About anything on my own.

I am kind to others

Because I think kindness

Is important.

I would never be disrespectful

To anyone.

So please, please tell me,

Why not me?

I love your daughter

More than I can put into words.

There will never be a day

In her life

That she doubts that.

She will always feel wanted

And always feel cared for

Isn’t that something

Any parent would want

For their child?

So forgive me for asking

But, why not me?

You should feel proud

To have such an incredible

Daughter,

Whom gives so much and

Wants so little

Except for your approval.

And all I want is to

Share in her incredible life.

So at the sake of sounding

Redundant, I ask you

Why not me?

If you looked beyond

My gender

And beyond the fact

That she is in a relationship

With another woman.

You would see nothing

But happiness and love.

If you looked beyond the

Labels lesbian and bi-sexual

I would not have to ask you

Why not me.