| MY FAMILY I was born in the small southern town of Newnan, GA (about 35 miles southwest of Atlanta) in 1974. I am the youngest of three children and the only boy, so you can imagine how spoiled I might have been :). My father worked at a large aircraft-assembly company for 40 years or so and was a deacon in our Southern Baptist church. My mother (now deceased), ever since I could remember, had been a secretary at that selfsame church. I remember spending many afternoons in her office doing homework. MY RELIGIOUS LIFE As you might imagine with this background, I grew up with a very conservative upbringing. I was heavily active in my church, singing in choirs from the age of 3, performing in church plays. and, once I got old enough, teaching Sunday School and Backyard Bible Clubs (consider it Sunday School on-the-go). I did this all through high school. When I got to college (Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, where I earned a BS in Mathematics), I began to be very active in my campus Christian organization, which was backed by InterVarsity Fellowship. My duties here included leading small-group Bible studies for two years. MY HOMOSEXUALITY From the time I was 12, I knew I was different from other kids. I simply never got interested in girls, although I chalked that up to being pious. ::sigh:: I didn't really link the fantasies I was having about men to homosexuality until 5 years later. At that point, I knew I had a problem: my religion taught me that what I felt was a sin, but I couldn't stop thinking that way. (Can you say guilt spiral? Ugh.) All through college I struggled with this issue, until I quit being involved in any sort of religious activities my senior year in college. It was about this time that I decied to come out of the closet to some of my friends. I consider myself extremely fortunate that I really didn't lose any friends in the exchange (althought some don't approve of my "lifestyle," they in general don't hassle me about it). This gave me the courage to be out and about at my places of employment, including my current job as a high school teacher. (Believe it or not, that has been a wonderful experience. Then again, I teach at a private school...I know coming out at a public school for me would have been next to impossible. |
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