An interesting interview with Dan Savage

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http://www.salon.com/life/sex_education/index.html?stor...

One of the very powerful takeaways is this

One of the things I like about your podcast so much is you do spend a lot of time talking to people outside urban elite areas -- you spent a lot of time last year talking about Constance McMillen, for example – where life for gays hasn't evolved that quickly.

One of the things that was a wake-up call for me last year before the "It Gets Better" campaign -- why we launched it, my husband and I -- was when I was sort of unaware how bad it was getting out there. You know, in the Greensburg, Indianas, and the Topachakees, Californias, where Constance McMillen was. What I didn't realize before those suicides opened my eyes, was that as it was getting better in New York or San Francisco or Seattle, it was getting worse out in the sticks, out in mega-church land. Because those of us who are out and urban and fully integrated into our work lives and families, our existence has made it impossible for queer 14-year-olds to fly under the radar in a Greensburg.

When I was a kid, and I was odd, the default assumption was that I was odd, not that I was gay. Now when a kid is odd in a Greensburg, gay or straight, the default assumption is gay. Because my job requires me to be in constant communication with people all over the country who are writing in to "Savage Love," calling the podcast, I think I'm a little more conscious of what's going on out there in the boonies -- but even I didn't see that. And that's a bitter pill for those of us my age to swallow. Us out there leading our lives and being successful have actually kind of made it worse for 14-year-old gay kids in Greensburg, Ind.

end of quote

I think that is a very deep insight. It is one of the reasons that the DADT version of being a teacher worked out so poorly in my case. Kids, who otherwise would just consider me a reticent teacher, instead consider that me as a single man who wouldn't answer the are you gay inquiry was likely gay. I think the same notion happens with odd kids. It is really a cruel irony that our success leads to the making worse of lives for gays in small towns. Read the rest of the interview it is worthwhile.