When I was in high school, being physically and verbally assaulted for being gay, did I find myself wishing that the school would hang up some Pride flags? No, I found myself wishing that I hadn't been born gay because life would have been a lot easier. If anything, seeing the school hanging up some flags and saying, "Welp, problem solved!" would have pissed me off more than getting bullied because flags don't stop bullies.

I would HATE to be a schoolkid now. I imagine them having long discussions about the flag and the teacher saying, "We all know people who are gay" and then my classmates all pointing at me and calling out my name.

Not saying teens shouldn't be out and proud if they're ready, but for a lot of young people (my Gen X anyway), it was very personal and difficult and the LAST thing you needed was to be officially labelled in school. What teenager wants to constantly be referred to as "one of our lesbian students"?

We know, however, that the Genderspecials want that constantly. For SSA people, I don't think that's a calling card. "Hello. My name is ____. I'm gay!"

The dream of seeing each person as an individual just gets further and further away.