High school football player’s “It Gets Better” video and why he is coming out in the Bible Belt

[xchrom]

http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2012/02/22/high-school-football-players-it-gets-better-video-and-why-he-is-coming-out-in-the-bible-belt/

Last week we ran a terrific first-person story by Jeremy, a 17-year-old high school football player in the Bible Belt whose dad is a fundamentalist preacher. Since then, he has received hundreds of supportive emails, including from politicians and other athletes. He is coming out to more and more people each week and chronicles his journey on his blog “Standing Up Speaking Now.” He has also added his voice to the “It Gets Better Project” (video below).

Jeremy’s dad has been preaching against homosexuality since Jeremy can remember and the teen is fearful of what will happen should his parents discover he is gay. With him coming out to more people, I asked him how he felt he could keep this news from his parents for very long. He addressed this in a post that shows a young man who is finding the courage to be who he is and is ready for any consequences:

'For the past 17 years of my life, I’ve been gay. While I didn’t understand it a younger age, I never saw anything wrong with it. My dad has been a preacher since I was 3 years old, and he has always condemned homosexuality. Accordingly, it’s probably not shocking that my father and I have never been close. Especially when I finally started realizing I was gay. Having said that, my dad and I have a tendency to argue and disagree, and my family and I are not close. They say they love me, and I have no reason not to believe they don’t, except how they constantly talk about the evils of being gay. I know they won’t accept it… Trust me when I say I know my family.

Because of this, you’re probably wondering why I’m risking everything I know and sharing my story. I don’t understand myself sometimes, but I have reached the point where I don’t necessarily care if they find out. It kinda scares me, I’m not gonna lie… I don’t know if they’ll kick me out, what they’ll say, or even what they’d do, but I just want to be me. If my story comes across their computer, so be it. If they find out, I’ll face it like a man. I don’t want to be miserable and face my family with a lie. I want to be happy, reach out, and see how things fall.'

[Laf.La.Dem.]

1. Thank for posting!!

WOW - this is one “courageous” boy/man!

He is my new hero

[HillWilliam]

3. I know! Awesome, idnit!!

Maybe he can get a scholarship to go to college and GTF out of small-town hell. I joined the Army to get myself extracted -- not an option I'd recommend these days.

Spirit bless him. He's a lot stronger than I was then.

[HillWilliam]

2. In the short term, the kid's got a tough row to hoe

I grew up in Appalachia and wouldn't dared to have come out in high school. If he can make good his escape from there, he'll have the world by the ass. I really admire his strength and courage.

[CanonRay]

4. That is one gutsy young man.

Hats off to him and good luck.

[TlalocW]

5. I support coming out

But there's also strategic coming out. I would have waited until after graduating high school since he would be an adult then and not legally bound to his parents still at 17. But if he feels the need to do it now, I support him.

TlalocW

[William769]

6. Recommended.

[TBF]

7. Not a member of this group but I wanted to K&R this

as someone who grew up in a small town with communist views I can kind of get where he's coming from. He's incredibly brave and maybe somewhat naive. I hope he's got friends lined up to stay with and I have to say I fear for his safety a bit. Good luck, Jeremy, I'll be pulling for you.

[mahina]

8. Good luck buddy! What a strong young man.

I hope he has support and his family can accept him.

Holy smokes.

[Dont call me Shirley]

9. Good for you, Standing up, Standing proud. Fundamentalists need to examine their own thoughts

before they attack others.

[closeupready]

10. I wish I had had the courage to do this. Or that a peer of mine had done so.

Out of the 400 people in my class, though, nobody did this, to my knowledge. Not until we were all long gone from high school. K&R

[joeybee12]

11. KNR for a very brave young man

[MarkCharles]

12. We ALL need to follow the link into the Youtube vid itself...

and give him some praise!

I just did it.

[radicalliberal]

13. Although Jeremy does have a You Tube account, ...

... I couldn't find his video for the "It Gets Better" project at You Tube. Perhaps I didn't do a site search with the right words? Was it deleted? I don't know.

[MarkCharles]

14. Try this link.

It's a hidden video now. But I can get to it.