Given that the tag “satire” is listed at the top of his article, it’s tough to know whether he is serious about this endeavor or not. But, what do you all think of the concept of criminalizing the closet, especially for public figures?

Read the full article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marten-weber/criminalize-the-closet_b_1376637.html

My brother and I have been close since we were little. He IS my best friend. One day we were sitting and talking about all the crazy stuff in our life and I jst came out and told him my ex girlfriend was getting me down again. He just sat there kinda in shock like “what??” and nodded his head and said sorry. I have told only him and my friends. He’s the one that kept telling me I should tell my family but I’m afraid of how they ate going to react. I’m 20 and have known I was different since I was 12. I have a bf and I love him and a son from another guy and I’m bisexual so I catch a lot of criticism for that. I’m slowly coming out but it’s HARD!!!!

Photo by Mktp/Flickr.com

October 7th, 2006 was the night of my sophomore homecoming. I didn’t
Feel like going so I spent the day with a friend of mine. He wanted to
Stay overnight at my house, something we did from time to time just to
be able to stay up later and watch movies, play games etc.

However It seemed to offend his mother that we never wanted to stay at
His house, the reason for that being his parents were always arguing
And it was always very chaotic.

My friend literally begged his mother to let him leave with me, which
I found odd considering my house can be rather boring at times much

Like anyone else’s. He told her he received no privacy when he had
Friends at his house and that made his mother angry. She pulled him
Aside while I waited in his room and I listened to her ask him “Why do
You want to go over there so badly? What exactly are you guy’s doing
That you don’t want anyone else around for?’

I immediately took that as a gay insult, because years earlier I used
To be teasedand called a “faggot” every single day.
I was deeply hurt that she would say that and I left without saying anything.

On the way home I told my mother what had happened. She decided to
Call my friends house and explain why I had left in such a hurry but
Not before asking me whether or not I WAS gay. She said she couldn’t
Defend me against a false accusation if it wasn’t false.

I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth. I lied and told her I
Wasn’t and so she called my friends mom. I listened to their
Conversation and, once it was over my mother told me that she’d meant
No offence against me by saying that, and she merely thought that her
Son was looking at pornography while he was at my house or something
Along that line.

This, I knew, was complete BS. Anyone who knew me for as long as they
Did would be SURE to know how I feel about pornography, drugs and
Things of that nature. I went downstairs and cried, hysterically to my
Friend who I called to console me. Then, I went out into my backyard
And stood by our creek.

During that time, I realized I needed to quit lying to everyone and
Just admit that I was gay. I’d long known I had an attraction to other
Men…it’s not something that can go unnoticed by one. So, from
That moment on I decided that anyone I met I would tell I was gay.
Then it occurred to me that there ARE no openly gay people where I
Live. So I made an alternate myspace where I could truly be myself and
Started meeting people on there. That is where I met my good friend
Allyson, who I am still friends with to this day.

In the beginning, I met a few guys that piqued my interest, but most
Of them appeared to just use me as an Internet fantasy in order to get
Off. I didn’t appreciate being treated like that so, after it had
Happened a few times I decided to take my time a find someone worth
Giving my attention to.

It was at that time that I met Jamie.

He was nice to me, sweet really and it was a strange and miraculous
Feeling to be treated less like a sex object and more like a person
With feelings and emotions. I took my time with him though, coming out
Had left me feeling afraid to start any new relationship.

Unfortunately, the only relationship we were able to have was long
Distance, but I was so desperate to have someone around me who
Understood how I felt that I took it regardless.

Jamie and I “dated” for over half a year. During that time, he treated
Me decent. He didn’t yell at me, ignore me or seem to be using me as a
Sex object like the others had. For awhile I was happy, and I thought
I really was in love and did not hesitate to tell him that.

However, in June of 07 I finally broke up with him after realizing
That our “relationship” wasn’t based on anything solid. Since then he
Has “gone straight”. We talk once in a blue moon and I always find
Myself amused by the fact that he was able to switch teams like that.
During the time I dated him, I had some problems going on at home as
Well. In February of 07, I was on the phone with him when my mother
Picked up…she listened to us talking and knew that this was more
Than just a “friend” of mine.

She started yelling and screaming at me, shoving me and demanding to
know who was on the phone. She accused me of lying to her and asked
why I never told her before, I responded by saying that I wanted to
delay this reaction for as long as possible and I hadn’t even admitted
it to myself yet. She teased me then and said that that sounded like a
line from a cheesy soap opera.

I started to cry and told her about how, two years earlier, I had
tried to commit suicide by ingesting poisonious chemicals. This calmed
her down a bit, but for the remainder of that year she teased and
argued with me constantly over my sexuality, telling me that I was
“confused” and mocking me by saying things like “I THINK I may be gay
but I don’t know…does anal sex hurt?”.

She said that to me one day before I went into work and I spent ten minutes crying in the
bathroom. My mother would often tease me about my relationship with
Jamie, saying we were both stupid and she was even so bold as to call
him a “faggot” to my face.

Then, in March my mother and my best friend got into a terrible fight
over something stupid and my friend was banned from my house. This
really REALLY upset me, and, with everything else that was going
on…I became overwhelmed and depressed and cut myself.
My mother came into the room, saw me bleeding and proceeded to cuss at
me, shove me, and tell me that if I wanted to kill myself I should
just tell her and she’d go get me the knife to do it with. Afterward,
she convinced me to go see a therapist.

That one moment has forever changed the way I view my mother. I still
love her, but not in the same way. I look at her through a different
set of eyes now.

I still treat her like any son would treat his mother, but on the
inside I am constantly reminded of that one moment, that one
sentence. I do forgive her, people fear what they do not understand
and often, because of that fear, say things they don’t mean. But that
doesn’t change the fact that it was still said. That is something I’ll
never be able to forget.

Then, once my life seemed to get back to whatever can be defined as
“normal” in July, my grandmother got sick. She had gone down to
Florida with my mother and sister while I stayed home with my dad.

Upon returning back to Michigan, she felt lumps up and down her side.
We were all worried that the cancer had come back (she’d had it a few
years prior and she was sicker than I had ever seen anyone).

My mother took her to the hospital and she was forced to stay
overnight. The doctors did find cancerous cells and some sort of
mysterious spot on her lung which they also believed could have been
cancer. However, that was not the real issue…the real issue was her
gallbladder which they completely ignored.

I went to visit my grandmother for a few day’s in a row, she seemed to
be doing okay. She talked to me and told me how proud she was of me,
and how much she loved me. I remember leaning down to hug her and kiss
her cheek before leaving. Unbeknown to me, that was the last time I
would ever speak to her again.

A few days after I had gone and seen her in mid July she went
unresponsive. They had given her too much medication and her hands and
feet swelled up like balloons. My mother called me and told me while
my sister and I were out with the very friend my mother banned from my
house back in March (I was still allowed to spend time with her). My
friend’s father gave us a ride to the hospital. My sister and I went
up to see my grandmother who was stationed in the “Intensive care”
unit.

She didn’t even seem to know we were there. I tried to wake her and
she just groaned as though she were having a nightmare. My sister then
started to cry so I had to take her out of the room.

The rest of the summer seemed to be spent in the hospital. My aunt
came up from Ohio to be with my mother and help make decisions on what
to do about the situation. The doctors told us they could preform a
surgery that would help her, though she may bleed out on the table
during the operation. After some deliberating and a lot of arguing
with the doctors that had ignored my grandmother, my mother decided to
go ahead with the operation.

The surgery was set for July 27th at around noon. At around 5:00am
that morning, we got a call from the hospital saying my grandmother’s
heart-rate had dropped and she wasn’t going to make it to the surgery.
We all got up, got dressed and headed to the hospital. We spent hours
there, watching her lay there and groan on the bed while the machines
beeping kept time like a metronome. I got tired and went to lay down
in the room next door, which was empty. That’s when my other
grandmother and my aunt (father’s side) showed up.

The doctor came in and told us it would be wise to give my grandma
morphine because, it would stop any pain she may have been feeling and
it would take her from us slowly and effortlessly.

Although my view of my mother has changed, I do admire her for having
the courage to speak for someone who, is not only dying (and your
mother) but has no voice in the matter. I couldn’t imagine doing that.
My mom decided to give her the morphine and we all sat with my
grandmother and listened as the machine monitoring her heart rate
slowed. I remember the look on her face just before I stared crying,
and how cold her hand was in my own. The nurse shut off the machines
before it completely flat lined.

I cried so much that day and it was all just a surreal blur. We had
her cremated and some of her ashes were put into necklaces for my
sisters and I.

In August I went on a fishing trip with my father, cousin and
uncle. I felt that getting out of the house, were all my grandmothers
thing’s still were (and my nasty mother), would do me good. However,
It was the most boring “vacation” I have ever been on. I was cold,
wet, and miserable. I was left alone with my thoughts far too often,
which, due to all the events that had happened, wasn’t something I
enjoyed experiencing.

It’s been years since then and a lot has happened. More mom drama obviously, but
nothing worth typing here. I came out to the rest of my family and
they were fine with it, thank God.

However, one other thing did happen that is worth typing. I developed feelings for a friend of mine during
my junior year of high school, who was straight. It was absolutely
horrid…he was so sweet and nice but I couldn’t bring myself to say
anything to him.

It’s funny….all the time I was with Jamie I longed for him to be
close to me, to touch me. Then, when I met someone I did like who
possibly could have, I shyed away. I never let my friend touch me, not
even a handshake. I didn’t WANT to like him. I told myself I wouldn’t,
I swore I wouldn’t…I knew it would only lead to trouble, and it
did…at least for me.

On his last day of school…he gave me this letter:

thank you so much. You have been such a great friend and you really
have changed my life. I find myself different in many ways because I
met you and because of the things we have talked about over these last
couple of months. You are someone that I will always remember. Without
you in 2nd hour I don’t know what I would have done with myself,
aaaaaaaahhhhhhh, Mr. S will never shut up. Good luck with everything
and thanks for putting up with my ridiculous problems. I honestly
don’t have one bad thing to say about that class (aside from the
talking) and it is all thanks to you. Sorry this is sort I’m not much
of a writer.

And suddenly I felt all the walls I’d built crumble in seconds and I
longed to throw myself at him and bawl my eyes out and tell him how
much I cared for him. But I couldn’t at that time. However, toward the
end of that summer I sent him an email containing everything you read
above (which is deeply personal) and my feelings for him as well as a
poem he inspired me to write (a hobby which I still continue, although
he is no longer the inspiration) to which he never replied.

That was heartbreaking, and I was very depressed for quite awhile
because of that. I eventually found the courage to ask him why he
hadn’t said anything to me about it and he told me that his mother had
found it, read it, deleted it and basically told him the “jist” of it
(which made me sound like a crazy gay masochist who wanted to sleep
with him).

I really had no idea what to do with myself after that, but somehow I
managed to keep moving forward with life and I have now graduated high
school and will be attending a university at the end of August.
It’s been over a year since I first admitted I had feelings for Nick
and made him aware of them, and sometimes I still find myself thinking
about him and missing him.

Looking back I think I’ve turned out alright despite all the crap I
delt with and I know there are people out there that have it far worse
than I did so I consider myself lucky. However, my idea of what the
gay community was and the realization of what it is are strikingly
different.

I have found that so many of the men I meet are superficial, arrogant,
stereotypical or just not my type or I theirs. I really don’t know where to go from here or if there’s even anywhere to go. I just try to take things one day at a time. I think that’s all we really can do.

Executive Producer, Hilde Orens, is asking for your help in making a movie to raise awareness about bullying. The film, titled, “Friend”, is seeking donations via the website “IndieGoGo” in order to film, edit, and market the show and they only have less than a month left… they need more donations.

The IndieGoGo page for this film has a very poignent point: THERE IS NO REASON FOR A CHILD NOT TO BE ABLE TO RELATE.

The synopsis offered about the movie is as follows:

Brad, newly sixteen and discovering who he is, attends Farlen High School outside Chicago. Brad is no stranger to not fitting in but when the bullying in high school gets to become too much, he starts to think of drastic ways out. Fortunately, a new kid moves into town and starts at Farlen High School just when the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

Rob, who is way wiser than anyone his age and has the charisma of a movie-star, befriends Brad instantly. Rob could be wasting his time becoming high school qua

rter back and having any girl he wants but makes it his duty to help save this gay student from making the choice that ends all choices.

We, as an audience, experience friendship, coming out, first love, and of course heart-break. This story being told in current time with the realness of coming out gay in a world which revolves around YoutTube[sic], Facebook, and Twitter.

If this is something that you feel compelled to contribute to, please follow this link to their IndieGoGo page and make your pledge. Depending on how much you pledge, you could receive IMDB credit for being a Producer for the film. That’s something to think about. Any donation, 1$ or more, will reward you with some type of a public acknowledgment, so ask your pockets if they want more awareness around anti-bullying education and see what your pockets say.

You can find more information about this film on their website: http://www.friendfilm.blogspot.com/

read more