Am I Blue? blog post

The short story "Am I Blue" by Bruce Coville shows that discrimination, such as gay bashing, makes people not feel good about themselves. The story is about a man named Vince, who is not sure whether he is gay or not, and his fairy godfather. The story teaches us how people are affected by real life issues, and the consequences. It also teaches that if we all could experience the personal freedoms taken away in gay bashing, then we could make the world a more open place.

For example, in the text Marvin says how his encounter with 3 gay bashers ended up with him dead. "3 bruisers dragged me into an alley, shouting "We'll teach you f-----!"..."Last thing I remember from life on Earth was coming face to face with a tire iron." This statement shows that gay bashers can seriously affect someones life, even to the point of death. If gay bashers can accept that other people have other points of view and ideas about sexuality, then there would be less suicides and deaths due to mistaken or made fun of sexuality.

Another example from the text was when Marin tells Vincent about Gay Fantasy #3, which is a form of gaydar. "So all the straights would have to stop imagining that they don't know any gay people. They would find out that they would be surrounded by gays all the time, and survived the experience just fine."... "They'd have to face the fact that there are gay cops and gay farmers, gay teachers and gay soldiers, gay parents and gay kids." This statement shows how its a persons emotions that make him/her gay, not a physical characteristic. If people realized that there is no real way to tell gay people from straight people, then there might be less unfair gay bashing.

All in all, if people keep their feelings bottled up inside, then, and only then, can they truly be understood, and can they understand themselves. I think that if people truly need to show, without stereotypes or wisecracks, who they are, then so be it. If people can't control themselves and their insensitive comments, this issue will never resolve itself. If people accept who they are, and get others too to, then we can achieve the goal of a better future for the next generation, gay or straight.