Coping in
Mississippi

I attend Mississippi School of the Arts, a residential high school in Brookhaven, Miss., and I am openly lesbian. Because our school is on a historic campus that isn't completed, we must take our science, math, and foreign language courses at nearby Brookhaven High School. Most of the people at Brookhaven aren't very tolerant of the art school students, and we all face a lot of ridicule and opposition, but my girlfriend and I face it more than most. We got reported because a teacher said she saw us kissing, but we aren't dumb enough to kiss at school. We got in trouble for holding hands because it is a "public display of affection," yet none of the straight kids get in trouble for this. A counselor there told us that if the press found out about our relationship, it would cause a scandal, and the head mistress told my girlfriend not to do anything that would create a "bad image." The Brookhaven kids threaten me constantly, but I don't know most of their names because I don't have classes with them, so I can't do anything about it. I wanted to start a gay-straight alliance at Brookhaven, but my counselor told me that there was no point in trying. We have only four out gays and lesbians at the art school, but I'm sure there are others at both schools who would love to join a GSA. It's hard to be a lesbian, gay, or bisexual teen, but living in a place with no tolerance for you, where you don't have anyone to turn to, makes it tougher. I just have to ask, Why is it driven into our skulls that homosexuality is wrong? Don't people realize that they're teaching their children to hate? Let us be who we are. Don't tell me you'll love me if I'm gay and then, when I come out, tell me to keep it in the closet. I wish the world could put religion aside and realize that love is love, no matter who it is, and sex has nothing to do with it.