Confused children…
by Matt | December 28th, 2007 |It seems as though former participants of the N.C. Governor’s School have taken to attacking me on my public outspokenness against the anti-gay mother who claimed Governor’s School turned her son gay.
But I think they are confused. Their Facebook group, where one of my many Governor’s School articles is linked, as about saving the summer enrichment program, not debasing it. Why is my article the subject of an attack?
The easy answer: My article isn’t “in the spirit of Governor’s School.” I guess it is a good thing I never went to Governor’s School.
If Ms. Anti-gay Momma Burrows has every right to spout of her prejudice, ignorance and hate, then I have every right to point that out. Case settled.
But, on the bright side, Anti-gay Momma Burrows’ son has spoken up.
Light and peace to you all,
Yes, I’m the illustrious/infamous Patrick Burrows, GSW ‘05. I’ve been pretty quiet about all of this, and for good reason. Let me advise you all on a few things.
1) You all think you know the circumstances of my coming out to my parents, but none of you are correct. Although I like the flock of people holding me up (believe me, that’s what helped me through 2005-2006), I am not the hero that you want to make me. If you want to know the specifics, contact me. However, unless I speak to you directly, let’s not gossip–no matter how kind-hearted it may be.
2) In the same way that you all don’t know me, you don’t know my mother. It’s taken me a long time to understand why she has done what she has. Unless you really take time to understand all of the aspects of where she’s coming from and what’s going through her mind (things my father doesn’t realize all the time), you won’t be able to know the other side of this whole fiasco.
3) There are powers behind NCGS of which—I hazard to guess—most of you aren’t aware. Yes, the student voice is important, but there’s only so much that can be said that will shake the minds of legislators, lobbyists, and lawyers. It is best to let the leadership of NCGS do what they can before we put our voices into an already turbulent mess.
4) The last time a forum like this was started (my own MySpace group), reporters got hold of some of the posts and used them in their stories. Unless you want your words taken and used against you, I advise you all to calm down.
5) From what I can see, most of you are from classes ’06 or later and you weren’t completely aware of what all was going on. From research which my mother showed me (strangely enough), this debate has been going on since the NCGS’s founding. It has never been without controversy and as long as it survives, it never will be. Perhaps that’s what we love about it, but perhaps that’s what will doom it.
In short, everyone needs to calm down, stop jumping to conclusions, and intuit the things that you can’t see (think rose-colored glasses). Starting a riot isn’t going to help anything. Just stop, breathe, and look around you. You might be surprised what you find.
Peace be with you all,
Patrick
High schoolers… Please understand that this fight over Governor’s School is about one thing — and one thing only: Anti-gay bigots upset that the state actually recognized gay people, and gay youth in particular, exist and have the right to exist.
The Alliance Defense Fund’s history makes their objectives very clear. From their sponsorship of the so-called “Day of Truth” and support of extremely anti-gay leaders and other activities, Alliance Defense Fund has made it clear that their agenda is to totally alienate all LGBT people by pushing them back into the closet and into invisibility.
If you can’t understand the dangerous agenda behind Alliance Defense Fund, then perhaps you aren’t as smart as you think.
Okay… rant to the high school children done.
All past posts on the Governor’s School (and there are many!): Click Here
Technorati Tags: gay youth, gay, lgbt, gay rights, nc governors school, the new gay teenager, Ritch C. Savin-Williams, winston-salem, hendersonville, north carolina
2 Responses to “Confused children…”
I don’t think Patrick was trying to infer that it was about anything other than what you claim. If anyone understands that, I think it would be him. He was the one who had to deal with his parents (and being cut off from the outside world for the greater part of six months) and the one who has been harassed publicly across the US, as well as other countries in other languages, by the ADF.
The current controversy to which Patrick responded in this post was actually something new that happened at Governor’s School East following the summer of this past year (i.e. 2007). It relates to Patrick’s issue only through a few other, separate issues that were caused by the original. So, although this is about the homophobia and heteronormativity that exists in the leaders of the state of North Carolina, it’s also about their reactions to protesting, which is another issue itself.
By (Anon) on Dec 28, 2007
I wasn’t calling Patrick confused. You’ll notice it was a slight switch in subjects: “But, on a brighter side…”
If the current controversy doesn’t have much to do with the former, please stop sending people my way to debate why we shouldn’t stand up against the prejudice exhibited by Mrs. Burrows.
By Matt on Dec 28, 2007