Born This Way by Paul Vitagliano Read Free Book Online

idea what
queer
meant in that context. I thought it merely meant I was strange and unusual, something I thought I wanted to be back then. I soon learned that being a queer wasn’t something you should wish for, after the taunting and tormenting I suffered at the hands of my classmates. I was pushed down a flight of stairs as a freshman in high school. Luckily, I had an amazing family to escape to after a day of terror in school. But I realize that not everyone is as fortunate. Today, when I hear about kids coming out at the ages of fourteen or twelve or nine, I’m shocked and amazed. I salute those kids, marvel at their bravery, wish them only good things, and hope that the trend continues until it’s no longer a trend and we finally realize that queer kids really are just born this way.



lindsay, age 3
    As a tomboy, I spent much of my childhood with my cousin Russ, who’s the same age as me. Russ’s older brother taught us new words like
fag
and
queerbait
, and I have a vivid memory of Russ actually calling me gay at age six. I asked him what it meant, and he said, “It means you’re a girl that likes girls.” I took a moment to process that in my little brain and I concluded, “Yeah, you’re right.”

seth, age 10
    This was a weekend game night at my mom’s house. I was always trying to entertain my family with my best supermodel pose, way before the age of supermodels. The terry-cloth hot pants still kill me! They were my everyday shorts; all the other clothing was my mom’s. I also remember that this was the first time my older brother—whom I idolized—called me a fag. The hardest part of being called names like that was knowing they were right. I couldn’t prove them wrong. And it really created a sense of doom inside me. That feeling lasted until I finally got out of Virginia at age eighteen and began to live my life.

eva, age 3
    Coming out as a lesbian was as difficult for me as it is for any gay kid. But the fact that I am physically disabled and nonverbal made it a bit harder, and I have to use a letter board to spell out my thoughts. Imagine the stress of slowly coming out, letter by letter. On top of that, I didn’t have any gay disabled role models to look up to, and I felt very alone. Fortunately, when I did come out, my family and friends were totally cool. I’m pretty sure they’d all figured it out by then anyway. Now, as an adult, I embrace my queerness and consider it just one more aspect that makes me unique.

heather, age 1
    The baby in this photo is now a successful, high-heel-wearing, twenty-five-year-old lipstick lesbian. My parents, who disowned me when I came out three years ago, have missed out on a lot of my life. But I wouldn’t go back into the closet for
anything
. After all, how would all my shoes and purses fit in there with me?

kyle, age 3
    I was always some version of different as a child: different as in smart, different as in social, different as in gay. I rehearsed Michael Jackson dance routines at age four and memorized a graduate microbiology textbook at age five. I knew I was gay at age twelve, though my peers had been letting me know long before that. My dad understood how hard things were in high school, and he added thirty minutes to his commute each morning to take me to school, so I wouldn’t have to ride the bus. To avoid the bullies, I walked from class to class outside and picked seats near the exits.
    You must be your own advocate. Whatever pain or disillusionment you experience must be redirected, or it will weigh you down. Be fiercely loyal to your friends, and never let someone project their inadequacies onto you. Love unconditionally and try to be kind.

shawn, age 5
    This is way back in my childhood in Ohio. Rural Ohio.
Very
rural Ohio. A neighborhood girl pressured me into a marriage of convenience with the words, “Hey, let’s play getting married!” My mom baked a Duncan