Man, what a topic. I'm betting every gay boy or girl, or even ones who were just perceived to be such took unfathomable grief growing up. I had plenty of grief but was never terribly bullied or beaten up. But, I remember vividly being the different one during that time. Small town America where you were the one who didn't fit in was a living hell. No words for the astounding verbal abuse as a kid and in junior high, truly leaving you feeling like a worthless, steaming pile of cow shit. Of course, I'm over it now but the words and actions of high school aged boys (and some girls) is downright astounding. The absolute zero regard shown to a person and the words that come from their mouths is simply beyond description. The humiliation from their words and actions can, I'm sure leave a person scarred for life. I bet there are many who were permanently scarred for life.
Ironically though, even before high school years were over, I had a classmate ask me if I wanted to suck his dick. I guess that doesn't necessarily mean he was gay, maybe he was just horny as fuck and needed relief, thinking I'd go for slurping down his cock and cum at the camp house. Who knows, he could have been bi or gay. Then, not long after high school and marriage (to a woman) out of the blue comes a call from a high school acquaintance, mind you, that I never even so much as held a conversation with. He randomly calls me and just wants to know what I've been up to. Of course I can't prove anything, but immediately I felt I knew. I just answered and asked him why he wanted to know. I'll never forget his choking reply in saying, oh, I was just wondering and nervously hung up. Yeah.
Then, sometimes I wonder about the high school kings and queens who might have had a gay child. Shoe on the other foot now, as some used to say, and valuable lesson learned for them, I hope.
Anyway, it's a good thing people grow up and become mature adults. If not, I'd have never transitioned. I still remember all of that stuff, but it doesn't define who I am today, thank God. I had a good conversation the other day with a guy I graduated with about this very kind of thing. Our conversation was about someone who had recently confronted him over something he said to them in high school. I could tell he was taken aback that something he said then was bad enough to warrant being confronted about so many years later. I remember telling him there's a huge difference in the high school version of someone and the mature adult version of the same person. I remember leaving that conversation on a very positive note.
