Story Saturday

(Sorry, I can’t make a text break on a picture post :( )
So, this happened. 
Lime Green - Me
Red, Brown, and Pink - freshman boys from my school
Dark Green, Blue, Orange, Yellow - friends not from my school 
Purple, Black, White, Gray - friends from my school

Red did apologize to me the next day, and it was kind of sweet, and I said that I assumed that he didn’t know that I was gay, and then he said, “Oh no, I did,” and then it was less sweet. 

All weekend I had been writing angry letter to him in Word and then deleting them (I try not to send anything on the internet when I’m angry) but after he wrote the apology I was calm enough to edit one to send. I sent him the following:
 

 Okay, [Red], so here’s the thing: I have written a lot over the past few days, all of which was angry and all of which I didn’t send because it was angry. But I still want to share with you the non-angry parts of what I wrote, and I hope that you will take them to heart. I know that it is very hard to get across tone of voice in a facebook message, so please understand that none of this is in an angry voice – simply stating facts and my feelings.

     The victim is never to blame for an attack, either physical or verbal. Nobody should be forced to act a certain way so that ignorant people don’t hurt them. No one has an excuse to hurt anyone, no matter how the person talks, acts, dresses, believes, or lives. 
     Gay people living openly is not making a big deal out of being gay. Who cares if a guy wants to wear pink or if two girls hold hands? Straight people wear weird clothes and kiss in the street all the time. There is nothing wrong with being open about being gay, at all. 
     The reason that I got very angry is because I’m gay and several of my friends who liked/commented on my post are gay. Many of them have self-harmed in the past because of the self-hatred and bullying they endured for being gay. Do you know the leading cause of death of LGBTQ kids is suicide? I was upset that they might see something that would hurt them on my wall, because I try to do all I can to help people realize that there is nothing wrong with them and to move past the hurtful messages they have heard in the past. The reason that my friends got very very angry in their responses to your comments is because I am openly gay (I’ve been out since my freshman year) and all of those who commented (and basically everyone at school) know that I’m gay, and they got defensive of me. I’m assuming that you didn’t know that, nor did you know that most of the people who liked the link were gay, and that you would have commented differently had you known. This was why I posted the comment saying that it’s important to understand how your words affect others. I was planning on sending you a message like this one right after I made that comment, but, like I said, everything I wrote was angry, and I try not to send anything angry over the internet because I’ll probably end up regretting it.
     Thank you for your apology – I really appreciate it – and I still hope that you’ll take my words to heart. I don’t mean to say that condescendingly, nor did I mean my comment on the link to be condescending. I truly meant everything I said, and I wrote it in a way that I hoped would be not too angry at a time when I was furious. I hope that you understand that I’m not trying to talk down to you – only to share what I know.
Much love, 

Rose