the awesome

Kayla Came Out To Her Entire High School On Martin Luther King Day

While some Americans spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day telling their gay brothers and sisters they are pieces of shit who deserve to be considered second-class, Kayla K. — a student at Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa, California (GO PANTHERS!) — spent the day coming out to her classmates at a student assembly. Give me a moment, because I am in awe of this young woman.

As we’ve seen, being tagged as gay in school can mean years of torture with no way out. Kayla isn’t having it. She’s telling her peers how it is. That she’s just like them, but just happens to be attracted to other girls. “I want to break the silence,” Kayla tells the school. “And I want to make one thing very clear: I didn’t choose to be gay. Facing this reality was the most challenging thing I’ve had to do in my entire life. … I want to fall in love with someone one day, and I want to walk down the street and hold her hand. … And eventually, I want to marry her. I want to buy a house with her.”

Confident eloquent young people who refuse to be marginalized? This is the legacy of Martin Luther King.

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