Posts tagged “coming of age”

Gay teens denied normal adolescent development become emotionally stunted adults, making "gay culture" seem dysfunctional. But that dysfunction is our doing, not theirs. Things improve as kids come out younger and just live their lives. Stop tolerating gayness. Stop noticing it. Just love your kids unconditionally.

Born two weeks late and already smug about it, I've spent 25 years being the forgotten third child, building fake computers, surviving high school beatings and my own darkest thoughts, riding the dot-com boom, falling in love with London, and somehow landing at Yahoo. The adventure continues.

I've been defining myself by my weaknesses and limitations to seem unique. Realizing now I don't need to do that. I am my strengths, skills, and attractions. Also, there's a ridiculously hot boy in my living room and my timing is terrible.

I've spent years hiding behind "Seldo," a persona I built at 15 to escape being bullied, closeted, miserable Laurie. It worked brilliantly. Now I'm exhausted by my own invention. I want to stop collecting admirers and start earning understanding. Time to let Laurie grow up.

A poem about an ordinary, invisible boy nobody noticed. No tragic ending, no special qualities, just a reminder that everyone has depth if you bother to look, and that loneliness is more common than we admit.