The Night I was Possessed by a Gay Dancing Demon

I was talking to a high school friend about life and the craziness of late 80's. One of the things she wanted to talk about was our first Homecoming Dance.

According to her, it was the night she knew I was gay.

So picture it, 1989 in Union City, Tennessee. I'm going to my 1st Homecoming Dance with my little clique and we are cute and dangerous (for 15 years of age). A few days before, we talked about what dance moves to do and made sure everyone could do the Running Man. For a while, we dancing and having a grand ole time.

But as the night progressed, I got sorta possessed by the Gay Dance Demon.

I think the song was Rhythm Nation, Just Got Paid or some Jody Watley song, but I just broke out. I was doing spins, the Kick Ball Change, high kicks and every other move I saw from Club MTV. I don't know why or how I did it, but I did. All the dances I performed in my room were put out on the cafeteria/dance floor.

People were watching, some were laughing but I didn't care. My friend told me she noticed how 'free' I looked. She said that I was really feeling it and truly lost in music. And from what I remembered, I was free. I was letting out all of that hidden gayness and it felt great.

She said after that night, she knew I was gay and hopefully, I would come out someday. Then she asked if I could still do a high kick.

I said "Yes, if I have stretched for 4 days."

10 Mistakes I made in High School

Between the years of 1988-1992, I was a high school student. I was in a clique and semi-popular however, I made many missteps with my fashion, attitude and awareness.

So after thinking, looking at too many pictures and yearbooks, I came up with a list of mistakes I made during my "budding" years.

1. Falling for a boy named JimBob.
2. Working at McDonald's instead of JC Penny.
3. Thinking I would join the army.
4. Took cooking classes instead of Typing (I can only type with one hand)
5. Being concerned with people's views of me.
6. Not taking high school seriously, I could've made better grades.
7. Carried my books like a girl.
8. Creating "Guess Jeans" Thursdays.
9. Stop writing stories.
10. Not truly being my big gay self.
    

Stay Strong, Jonathan Escobar!

He was told to dress more MANLY, whatever.


Do you, Boo!

Class of 1992

Wow! I haven't seen this in years. I lost my senior yearbook and I wish I knew how to get another one. Anywho...These are some of my classmates in high school.

There's me and my best friend, Davida, followed by my best friend/crush Brandon at the end.

Stephanie was the rebel, Darren was cute and Chris, I think he came out years later.

Those were interesting times back then. Although I was closeted, lonely and stuck in a small town, I knew the best days were coming.

And by the power of Greyskull, I was right!

Blast from the Past

1992 Prom
I actually had my hair in rollers and I just got over the measles a week before...Good Times

Soul Train Moment

It's Friday and we should leave work dancing

High School (Hate)ical

For most of us, high school was like a haunted house of our secret crushes, bullies, and pinned up emotions.

And for the most part, nothing has changed especially for the LGBT youth. Last week, GLSEN sent out their National School Climate Survey, which follows LGBT young people's experiences in school. What they found was not cute.

The survey of 6,209 middle and high school students found that nearly nine out of 10 LGBT students (86.2 percent) had experienced harassment at school in the past year.

The survey also found that three-fifths (60.8 percent) felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, and about one third (32.7 percent) skipped a day of school in the past month because they felt unsafe.

Even with a more opened society and cultures. People are still treating our students like trash. Hopefully this will stop or at least change pace.

Kevin Jennings, director and founder of GLSEN, said: "Still, not enough places are doing the right thing to move the national needle. Only 11 states have comprehensive anti-bullying laws that include specific mention of sexual harassment and gender identity. And only 20 percent of students said they had any curriculum that dealt with LGBT concerns. As we've seen throughout history, more visibility brings more attacks."