The Locker

This is my favorite story to date.

I don’t know exactly why that is, but I know that there are points when I read the story that I still get choked up, still feel the emotions raging inside. It still pisses me off too, when I read the news, hear about how Governments that are supposed to care about equality, about protecting kids, refuse to do so.

Maybe that is why I wrote the book, I don’t know. Originally it started off as a two part short story, and like other stories, it sort of got away from me, and became a full blown novel. When I printed it out, it was over 300 pages.

This is a ‘coming of age‘ story, one that has a lot more to it. We, as adults, assume that the younger generation are coated in some invisible armor that keeps them safe. We encourage this myth, when the truth is, there is no such armor. Life is cruel, and it hurts. Teenagers don’t have the experience necessary to deal with the complexities of life. It is why teenage suicide exists.

It is tough enough being a kid, and having your emotions all raging inside. Being Gay and a Teenager is tougher. Least a straight kid has peers to discuss it with, to emmulate. Who do gay teenagers have? Instead of learning about romance, they are innundated with Messages of Hate. From the Pope on down to the President, yet we expect teenagers to deal with it all, to cope.

This story is just a small glance into that world. To see how some CAN, if given the love of parents, if given the chance to learn from our experiences. If we just stop judging them, if we just stop worrying about what ‘others will say‘. Maybe then we can keep the kids alive.

I hope you will enjoy this story. It is fiction, yet it isn’t either. This stuff happens, but maybe it is the idealist in me, I still have hope that things will work out, that happy endings are not just for fictional stories.