wow. how the memories have come up a' flooding these last two days. jeannie, how are you ? how's your girl ? can't remember her name, but I remember your brother Lenny as well ...
'they' say time heals all wounds, but whoever the hell 'they' are most definitely did not do any time in GT. over 15 years later, and I hadn't given most of this much thought ... my life has moved on, and the program is a distant memory, like an alternate reality that only comes to the front of my mind at peculiar moments ... such as :
when you're listening to a song with friends and don't recognize it, and your friends are like , " what were you living in a carboard box in 1988 or something ?? " ... and you're like , "actually ... a cardboard box would have been flippin' awesome in comparison !" ... "what ??", says your friend ... "never mind", you reply - because let's face it, friends - this is not light banter to have with friends. this is dark, dark stuff. let me use this as an example. my dad is gay - came out of the closet when I was 20 and I have a much easier time sharing that with friends than the GT experience.
and why is that ? let's discuss, shall we ? homosexuality and the causes and effects of it on families and individuals have been openly discussed in the media, in movies, in court cases ( divorces, etc. ) - so people have a point of referrence, wether they have had a gay or bi relative or not. NOBODY unless they experienced it has a point of reference to what we went through ... even most of our parents don't really get it and never will because they don't ever want to face themselves and what they did to their children. I can count on one hand how many people I have shared the GT experience with over the last 17 years ... I was married for three years and she only got a very abbreviated version of the damn Cliff Notes. as I have read through these posts and followed links to articles, I have become enraged that this horrible, horrible situation has not been brought into the light. this is just as sick, if not more so, than the predatory catholic priests - why is that brought into the spotlight and into a courtroom and all the articles that have been written about GT get buried with no national media
does GT really have more powerful friends than the CATHOLIC CHURCH ?? NO WAY !
it's us, people ... it's us. we are the key to this, and the fact that we have all remained silent for so long just goes to show that the abuse done to us psychologically really was more severe than the little boys sodomized by priests - the fear of god almighty was before them, and they still had the guts to come forward and at least tell a parent who then brought it to light, where as we have chosen to coward and sulk and repress ... because of the damage the program did to our self-esteem, because after all the years it took us to regain our dignity, and to learn that we didn't have to keep rebelling and fighting forever, all we want to do is live "normal" lives now ...
wow, what a rant. 'happy' said something to the effect that now that she has kids of her own, she has to advocate for children's rights ... the thing is, 'happy', your kids are safe - you are aware and awake. I don't have kids of my own, but this is still going on and it makes me sick to my stomach to think about how many lives and spirits are being derailed, destroyed and broken ... parents who in a desperate moment were duped into thinking this was the only way to "save" their child ... how do we reach THEM
somewhere in all these posts in a request that we all email michael moore about this to do an expose' documentary ... hmmm - not a bad idea, but he needs ALOT of us to write, with the most horrific stories you can to get his attention.
ok ... I'm out for now ... peace. love.
