Then, Now, and Later

| By: Committee for Children

Today's blog post is by senior outreach representative Amy Walker.

There has been a lot in the news lately about bullying, especially as it relates to GLBTQ kids, and it makes me think of my own past and how I related to those same kids.

When I was a teenager, I hung around with the kids who snuck into night clubs to dance to British new wave music. We dyed our hair and took the bus to the city and, from the moment we entered high school, we were counting down the days until we graduated so we could move to London. We took classes from the former hippie teachers because they liked us. And because we were the alternative crowd, our circle was open to the kids that didn’t feel comfortable in a lot of other groups—and there were a lot of gay kids among us.

This was in the 80s, and not a lot of kids “came out.” But most of them didn’t need to because, even though they might have tried to hide it, they knew they were gay and a lot of other people did too. It was what they did with that knowledge that was the issue. I watched some of my best friends get chased around the parking lot and called “faggot,” or laughed at in the hallways for the clothes they wore. So I love that this issue is finally getting some attention.

These memories compel me to commend all of those who have struggled and suffered to pave a better path for the gay kids of today. I commend all of those who have reached out with an It Gets Better Video or in other ways to the next generation of gay kids and to all the kids who are struggling with these issues right now. I am just glad to see that change is brewing and I look forward to seeing us change the culture of our schools so that all kids are welcome. I applaud the courage it took by so many who have come before to get us to where we are now.