Slog - Comments on Some Things Are Getting Better; or, Thank God for Evolution http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank Yesterday's New York Times featured a story I've been waiting to read for as long as I can remember: Michael Winerip's quietly thrilling profile of Zach O'Connor, a Connecticut teenager whose coming-out experience--navigated with the full participation of his family--proves that the ongoing pogrom against gays is occuring in (and is perhaps a backlash against) a society where progress for gays is palpable. My favorite chunk, showcasing the benefits of a prompt and purposeful coming-out for gay teens: Now, as a 17-year-old 11th grader, Zach has passed through phases that many gay men of previous generations didn’t get to until... Copyright 2008 Mon, 02 Apr 2007 11:50:15 -0800 Tue, 03 Apr 2007 04:08:15 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by sweet kid What a great story! For once, I'm proud of a tiny slice of American culture.

]]> sweet kid http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c687819 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c687819 Life Mon, 02 Apr 2007 12:34:40 -0800 Comment by Eli Sanders My favorite chunk:

Still, seventh grade was not easy. “We heard kids across the street yelling ‘homo’ as he waited for the school bus,” Mr. O’Connor says. Zach says classmates tossed pencils at him and constantly mocked him. “One kid followed me class to class calling me ‘faggot,’ ” he says. “After a month I turned and punched him in the face. He got quiet and walked away. I said, ‘You got beat up by a faggot.’ ”
]]> Eli Sanders http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c687840 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c687840 Life Mon, 02 Apr 2007 13:00:51 -0800 Comment by dw "that the ongoing pogrom against gays"

So people, right now, in this country, are going out in mobs and killing gays and destroying gay communities? Huh. Wonder why that's not on the news.

I mean, I don't want to mess with your education from the Dan Savage School of Hyperbolic Rationalization, but it just doesn't seem like the right word to use, much less on this week of all the weeks of the year. One gay guy getting murdered is tragic, but it's not a pogrom. Call me when rampaging Russians are burning down the Castro.

]]> dw http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c687851 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c687851 Life Mon, 02 Apr 2007 13:15:46 -0800 Comment by josh how nice. also, dw @ #3, i agree that pogrom is right out of the School of Hyberbolic Rationalization textbook. but it really did feel like open season back in february-march.

]]> josh http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c687866 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c687866 Life Mon, 02 Apr 2007 13:27:20 -0800 Comment by switzerblog Uh, It's nice that the parents were supportive, but what's with the focus on sports? He didn't want to toss the football, couldn't remember the rules of sports, and *gasp* even after coming out wasn't interested in sports? Is there some sort of anti-sports homo gene that the New York Times knows about? I'll have to break the bad news to my straight friends who have no interest in sports...the NYT says you're gay! And his friends were girls and timid boys - this is telling? c'mon, really, it's a heart-warming story about the family, but it could have been written without the author clinging to cliches like a life raft.

]]> switzerblog http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c687916 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c687916 Life Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:16:13 -0800 Comment by josh but then it wouldn't have been a new york times article, switzerblog @ #5.

]]> josh http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c687922 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c687922 Life Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:21:43 -0800 Comment by monkey Lucky kid! I'm envious.

]]> monkey http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c688002 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c688002 Life Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:49:09 -0800 Comment by Gitai I think it's great that the parents asked him why he didn't come out in fifth grade. I really love this progress. I came out at 16 in small town New Mexico and had a pretty good reception. I think it's amazing that this kid came out at 14 with full parental support. I'm hoping that in another ten years, kids will be coming out in fifth grade and spend middle school being catty and putting together drag routines.

]]> Gitai http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c688032 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c688032 Life Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:17:17 -0800 Comment by Cate @5: Not all girlish boys and boyish girls grow up to be gay . . . but a lot of us do.

]]> Cate http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c688033 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c688033 Life Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:21:40 -0800 Comment by switzerblog @9: No argument - I'm just saying it's hardly a reliable belweather, and the article could've been written (and would have been stronger) without that nugget's frequent appearance. It annoys me that in writing an article about progress in our nation's views about gay kids, the author proceeds to cling to a meaningless cliche.

Meanwhile, this fine paper's Big Gay Editor is enjoying a beer at opening day...I'm just sayin'.

]]> switzerblog http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c688061 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c688061 Life Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:47:27 -0800 Comment by lawrence clark I think that it is terrific that he was able to come out so young. I pretty much came out at 21, but not a "deal with me or not" until 37. It has been 10 years and I have yet to meet an Ann Coulter-like bitch. She should be ashamed.

]]> lawrence clark http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c688304 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/04/some_things_are_getting_better_or_thank#c688304 Life Tue, 03 Apr 2007 04:08:15 -0800