I’m From Wartburg, TN.

by Mikey B.

Satellite overhead image of Tennessee from Google Earth 2022

I came out of the closet in my senior year in high school. I was one of those “goth” kids that always wore black and listened to whiny and sad music. When my senior year started I came out to a few friends and it felt so great and made me so happy that I quickly came out to everyone in my social circles. My biggest fear all of high school was that I would lose all my friends. I grew up in a small town and there were only about 500 kids at my school. What happened was the complete opposite.

I was finally being true and honest and I gained friends by coming out and it really changed my entire outlook on life and how I dealt with people. Since I was being honest it seemed like I became friends with almost every social circle – jocks, cheerleaders, the art kids, the music kids, hell even the redneck kids, whom I’m still friends with to this day. I was surprised my friends were more open than I thought they were and coming out was the best thing I ever did, even with all the over thinking and worrying I did about coming out.

Don’t get me wrong, I had my share of negative experiences, but overall I was really surprised my little town was so accepting, which I know is not the standard.

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