Entry
#116
Rejection Diary
Rejection By Gay Circumstance
Dear
Harlan,
As "Dazed and Confused" wrestles with the difficult decision about
how and when to "come out" as gay, another group of people whose
feelings are worth considering are the "plenty of girls" who like
him. I had an intense crush on a young man in high school, focused
a lot of my attention on attracting his interest and took his
rejections as evidence of my overall unattractiveness as a young
woman. When mutual friends told me, decades later, that the young
man I had so avidly pursued had "come out" as gay, it was an enormous
relief, and a weight I hadn't known was there was lifted. Perhaps
Dazed could present a hypothetical situation to gauge how his
friends would feel about him coming out. It could save him and
others from feeling dazed and confused.
Wish
I'd Known in 1965
Dear Wish I'd Known,
You can't make the gay guy feel bad for your injured self-confidence.
Blame it on a lack of knowledge when it comes to participating
in The Sport of Taking Risks and overcoming Rejection by Circumstance.
When faced with Rejection by Circumstance, the person rejected
without explanation should NEVER assume the circumstance of the
rejection is a reflection of being desirable or attractive. Assume
the person doing the rejecting is in a relationship, dealing with
personal issues or, in your case, gay.
