An Open Letter To My Parents, Siblings, Friends, and Allies.

Today, we have our very first guest post on Doodled Rainbow. (Queue applause!) Alex Turley graciously gave us permission to repost two of his original articles on our site, and we're so excited to share them. This is a response that he wrote to the rash of teenage suicides in fall of 2010. (It was originally posted September 30th of  that year.) You can find more of Alex's writing on his website or via his Twitter feed. Okay! That's enough of my rambling. Here's Alex's intro and piece. Welcome to Doodled Rainbow!

--Kayte

I live & work in Downtown Phoenix. Love life and blogging about life.

To All Who Have Ever Stood Up For Me, or Supported Me,

The past week has been filled with horrible headlines of teenagers and young adults who have endured so much hatred and homophobia through the form of bullying that they felt the only way out was to end their lives. Hearing these headlines brought back memories of my childhood, teenage years, and even being an adult in a world where unfortunately there are still many people who hate my very existence based on the sole fact that I am a gay man. I couldn't help but to remember the taunts, names, threats, and scary moments I've had in my life simply because of one thing about me.

I remember failing gym my freshmen year of high school because the thought of having to deal with upper class students calling me slurs and throwing tennis balls at me in the locker room scared me to not even care. I will admit that I was never a sporty kid but nonetheless the fear that gripped me in that locker room was really the reason. I remember losing a group of my friends I had in elementary school because once we moved to high school their new group of friends would not associate with the "faggy" kid.

The other thing I remember though is having a group of friends that supported me and stood up for me. My best friend Meghan joined me at lunch standing on the tables yelling at the jocks that she was gay too and for everyone to stare at her. I remember Dennis letting me know that he had my back if someone tried to mess with me. I remember Katie telling me to rock on on a note she left me when I came out to her. I remember almost the entire cast of Inherit the Wind being supportive when Niki asked me if I was gay and gave me the opportunity to come out my Freshmen year.  I remember my mom telling me that she loved me no matter what and that some day she hoped that I would find love and she would be there to support me and my partner. I remember my Dad and Step-Mom and the rough patches of growing up but knowing that now they love and support me in my life.
  
My point is that I am extremely blessed to have such an amazing support system of friends and family in my life and I wish that I could project that love and support to all the LGBT people in our world that feel they don't have anyone. Gay, Bi-Sexual, Lesbian, Transgendered, Questioning, Straight, whatever our orientation is we must stand together in the fight of love, tolerance, equality, understanding, respect, and treating EVERYONE in this world the way we all want to be treated. Have a voice and use it because one conversation with someone could save someone's life or stop the enduring hate that is all too often a part of the society we live in today. I do not ask or expect people to agree with the way I live my life but I do ask and expect people to treat me with respect and be civil human beings.

So lastly, I say thank you to not just people in my life but to anyone who has ever stood up and been a positive voice in the face of hatred and homophobia or any type of bigotry for that matter. Together we all can make a change so let's do it!

Proudly,

Alex