For Future Generations, by Amanda

Growing up I didn't know there was such a thing as bisexual. I don't think I even realized what my attractions to girls was until much later. I had crushes like any other kid on neighborhood boys. There were mostly boys in the neighborhood and the other girls were like sisters and still are so I wasn't interested in them. One of my first celebrity crushes though was Alyssa Milano form when she was on Who's the Boss?

Where I grew up it was wrong to be gay. The first people I ever met who were gay and out was one couple in high school. In our high school people were always making out in every corner of campus. There was even a girl who got pregnant in seventh grade and her parents only said that they should get married. When two male students were caught kissing in the parking lot, though, the school got their parents involved. One kid was transferred by his parents. The other stayed for a while but was treated horribly by the other students especially his teammates who didn't want him in the locker room. After that, no one wanted anyone to know if they weren't absolutely heterosexual.

It seemed that each year after high school, however, all kinds of people came cartwheeling out of the closet. I went to clubs with friends and ran into all kinds of people that I knew. It was so strange to me because no one talked about it. I finally said something to my family this summer, ten years after high school. It is still awkward. They were more supportive than I expected but still said that if I bring a girl home I have to tell the neighbors that she is a friend from school. I want to start doing my part to make it easier for the next generations to be able to be themselves and not go through the fear and drama and pain that my generation and all those before went through.

-Amanda