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Now this is brave Gay Texas teen comes out in graduation speech

If I were his father, this is not how I would have chosen to have this information revealed to me the first time.



A bit thoughtless in some ways, IMO.
 
My point was that that in ceremonial discourse/epideitic rhetoric, as in all rhetoric, there is an obligation to one's audience. Here's what #3 says:

Be open to what the rest of the grade [class] is thinking. While you have been chosen to write the valedictorian speech and present it, remember that you have a responsibility to try and reflect your classmates' broader interests and wishes too.

I read it and he covered that in his speech as well as #2 which said: Avoid trying to write something that doesn't reflect your true self.

The 'coming' out part of the speech consisted of only two words out of the whole speech. Most of it consists of his advice to his fellow students to not let themselves be defined by what someone else thinks of them.

"I invite everyone to be more reflective, more meditative. I ask everyone to
give themselves a good hard look and define what they like about themselves. I ask
all of you to learn what it means to love yourself, if you haven’t already.
Please, embrace self-empowerment. You gain confidence, an unswerving
belief that you matter and the ability of your existence to make an indelible mark
on the world. You gain compassion and empathy. You will love and be loved.
Most importantly, you will finally start living the life that you were always meant
to live."

Speech link given on this site: Mitch Anderson, salutatorian, comes out as gay in graduation speech
 
If I were his father, this is not how I would have chosen to have this information revealed to me the first time.



A bit thoughtless in some ways, IMO.

I agree there, but how do you know it was news to them? In the article I only see they didn't know about the speech.
 
I agree there, but how do you know it was news to them? In the article I only see they didn't know about the speech.


If I'm not mistaken, it said it was the first time he'd come out to anyone.
 
If I'm not mistaken, it said it was the first time he'd come out to anyone.

Yeah, reading it again i think you are right. That's not a very considerate way to tell them.
 
P.S: Just remembered another story I heard of a somewhat ditsy friend of a friend who went home to visit his ailing father for the first time in a couple of years. Dad didn't seem so bad so he used the opportunity of Sunday lunch to drop his bombshell that the family name ended with him. Monday, old Dad calls his solicitor to write son out of will. Tuesday, old Dad becomes the late old Dad. Nice going! You get yourself written out of will AND get the blame for killing Pops to boot. I'd make that Coming Out Tip c).

Maybe his dying was the karma he got for writing his son out of the will for such a stupid reason.
 
If I were his father, this is not how I would have chosen to have this information revealed to me the first time.



A bit thoughtless in some ways, IMO.

More than a bit thoughtless IMO.
 
Maybe his dying was the karma he got for writing his son out of the will for such a stupid reason.

Hmmm. While that might be true, it's quite a tough sell to the remaining members of the family.
 
That he shouldn't be written out of the will for being gay? Why? They want more money for themselves?

No, that the father's sudden death didn' have anything to do with the shock of discovering his son was gay. The old guy was clearly a bit of a homophobe, it would come as a shock.
 
More than a bit thoughtless IMO.


Yeah. Family should be told first, before any kind of public announcement is made. Give them a chance to deal with it first before making it public.
 
He should've been told to shut up and leave. We've already determined on another thread that you can't say anything you want in a graduation speech.
 
He had been referring to Jonathan Allen, America's Got Talent, whose parents threw him out when he told them he was gay.

As for the young Belton student, as much courage as I know it took, and as supportive as I am for the plight of all in the LBGT community, a graduation ceremony is not the appropriate venue for "coming out" to a captive audience who is there to celebrate a graduation, not hear religious recitation nor sexuality confessions.




It would be nice to know what the audience thought about this dudes tell-all speech.
 
For one thing, no one would be asking "What makes people think anyone wants to hear about their religious preference, especially if they weren't asked about it in the first place? "




For sure a lot of people wouldn't be interested, but few would be upset.
 
just out of curiosity...how could this guy have experienced prejudice and rejection if he didn't "come out" until graduation? And if everyone already knew he was gay so that they rejected and discriminated against him...what was the ****ing point of officially coming out at graduation?




Excellent question.
 
Yeah. Family should be told first, before any kind of public announcement is made. Give them a chance to deal with it first before making it public.

This goes along with a lot of things. For example, what would it be like if some kid gave a graduation speech telling everyone that she has struggled with dealing with being raped early in the year... and had not told her parents until this moment?
 
This goes along with a lot of things. For example, what would it be like if some kid gave a graduation speech telling everyone that she has struggled with dealing with being raped early in the year... and had not told her parents until this moment?


Exactly. During a speech in front of everyone is not the first time you want to hear about some REALLY major unknown in your child's life.
 
belton is 5 miles down the road from me.

(runs into the shower to wash the nearby gay off):scared::scared::scared::scared:
 
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