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MAX's FRIENDS
My closest friends are two straight Black males, a white
lesbian, a straight male Jew, a gay Filipino male, a gay Black man, a gay transgendered FtM Asian, and a straight white woman.
This is not NBC's "Friends"...
What all my friends have in common is the status of
The Outsider. I am aware that these are not people I ever would have known if I'd stayed in the world I was born into. Thank
god I left that world.
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KARL
KARL is a fellow teacher at SLHS, but that doesn't tell the story. Through the school's batles
over racism, censorship and homophobia, Karl has been a leader and my comrade-in-arms. He's been one of the great teachers
in my life. I began to learn the complexities of racism and the heart and reality of Black people,
just as he learned about gay folks. Together we learned something about how to actively live lives of
compassion and courage. Karl gave me much of who I am.
SEE ALSO "WHAT'S NEWS" 8/08/02
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SKIMO
SKIMO is my virtual brother. We taught together and knew each other for only one year
before he moved with his family to Finland [that is not a misprint; they actually moved to FINLAND] We grew
to be friends through a staggering amount of e-mail and one visit each year. He occupies my life with the ancient virtues
of honesty, sincerity, and earnestness -- but also sweetness and humor. I have confided my darknesses and weaknesses
in Skimo more than in anyone, because I trust his heart completely.
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DIANA
DIANA has been my friend longer than anyone. We came to SLHS the same year, and she has always been the counselor the kids trust most, the one who makes
them feel loved. She was among the first people I was "out" to, and the only one of my pre-Coming-Out friends who really
stayed with me. Along the way, we co-founded [with me and Karl] the GSA.We've had a somewhat typical Will & Grace
relationship, I suppose, but I doubt anyone knows either of us quite as well as we know each other. Certainly no one knew
me so well through the techtonic shifts that shook my life in the last 18 years.
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