Kate Bornstein's Blog for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws

Gay Pride '07

Greetings from New York City. I'm writing this on Saturday, June 23rd. It's the day before the big Pride parade here. Lots of proud lesbian women, and a whole lot of proud gay men, as well as a healthy sprinkling of proud bisexual folks, and a nice assortment of proud transgender people. A lot of people turn out for Gay Day in New York, and the weather is supposed to be fairy-tale appropriate: sunshine, sunshine, sunshine. I won't be going. I'm proud of a lot of things in my life, but it doesn't seem that I'm proud of what I'm supposed to be proud of.

Ugly Ducklings: scary fairy tale with a happy ending

Okay, here are some sobering statistics for ya. They may not be surprising, but the numbers sure scare me.

According to Sexual Information Council of the United States:
41.7% of LGBTQ youth do not feel safe in their school.
28% of queer teens drop out of school annually. That's three times the national average.

And according to 2005 report from Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
95% of school counseling services have few or no gay, lesbian or bisexual resources. And...
99% of school counseling services have little or no transgender resources.

Thank goodness there are national campaigns like Ugly Ducklings, run by Hardy Girls Healthy Women, out there actually doing something about this quiet horror.

Sex Positive Broadway!

For the past 6-8 weeks, I've been out on tour or down with the flu or helping my grrlfriend say goodbye to her mom who passed from this world. But I'm back now in New York City, and I was thankfully lucky enough to catch a performance of Spring Awakening, a shiny new Broadway musical that shatters Broadway stereotypes in a healthy, sex positive way.