High school is vicious.
Maybe you were one of the popular kids, but even still, I’ll bet you spent a solid chunk of those four years agonizing over your looks and social status.
In high school, not wearing the right shoes or using the wrong slang can make you uncool. I can only imagine what the experience is like for someone like Jamison Liang, a 17-year-old senior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, who on Tuesday told not only his peers, but also the city of Chicago, that he is gay.
Liang was featured in RedEye, the Tribune and other media outlets this week because he and some friends launched a campaign at their school in which students and faculty were asked to wear T-shirts that read, “gay? fine by me.”
Liang said about 200 others wore their shirts to classes on Tuesday, while about another 200 students wore opposing shirts that said “Crimes committed against God.”
Before Tuesday’s showdown, Liang had told only family members and a few friends about his sexual orientation.
“I basically came out in the baiduhai,” he told me Wednesday morning, when we met downtown to discuss his efforts.
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“A lot of people probably didn’t know I was gay before this week,” he said. “I’m not flamboyant. I’ve always been quiet and soft-spoken. People probably don’t think of me as a political activist.”
Liang does come off as kind of shy, but in that I’m-growing-into-my-own-skin kind of way. Sitting across from him, I could see his determination competing with a tendency to speak in near-whispers.
Regardless, Liang’s actions were heard loud and clear Tuesday.
Emotions were highly charged at the Homewood-Flossmoor campus, he said. School officials told the Tribune that there were a few fights and some name-calling.
“I saw people I knew wearing the opposition shirts,” Liang said. “Some of them surprised me. It was horrible. You could just feel the tension in the air.”
I asked Liang if he was afraid in the hostile environment. “Not terribly,” he said. “I’ve gotten to the mind-set where I don’t care what other people think.”
I was more worried about Liang’s physical safety, which he shrugged off.
“Mainly I’ve just dealt with verbal harassment,” he said.
Surprisingly, he said, there was an overwhelmingly positive response to the T-shirt campaign and all the publicity it received.
Many students expressed their solidarity, and several parents contacted Liang’s mother to offer their support.
One classmate, whom Liang said was part of a “super-Republican” family, sent him an e-mail congratulating him on his bravery. “I wish I had that kind of strength,” the e-mail said. “Thanks for making being a gay teen better.”
The e-mail made Liang feel validated in his announcement, he said, despite the swarms of students who rejected his message. “I hope what I did will help others,” he said.
When I think about all the things that go on in high school–the cliques, the parties, the passing of judgments–Liang is a marvel. So many people choose to be self-absorbed at that time in life. Yet here is a kid who is willing to put himself out there and stand for something.
I’m not saying his opponents weren’t standing for something. I just refuse to congratulate people who actively hate others and want to deny them rights.
I do commend Liang for recognizing at an early age that being true to yourself is of the utmost importance, and I applaud him for having the courage to stand in the line of fire.
“In high school, there is so much trying to fit in,” he said. “Once I’m able to look back on high school, I don’t want to regret it. I don’t want to say, ‘Why was I so scared?’ I have been honest, and in my 20s I will be proud of myself.”
I’m sure that pride will last a lifetime.
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