1AM gay poem

Name: Harvey Milk

Age: 48 (at time of death)

But how did it happen?

I don’t know, Janet

Why not ask the internet?

“He was shot five times

On the street”

Oh my god,

Audible gasps ring through the room

It’s hard to imagine these are

The same people who whisper

He’s a fag in the locker rooms

He was the first openly gay elected official?

My lips are pressed tight.

Oh my god, I can’t believe that

I cannot bring myself to unclench my fists.

I want to shout at them

That they don’t have to pretend

They can speak their mind

To be honest,

They’d get away with it, too

That’s just the way it is,

With this school

Here’s the thing:

I don’t have a problem

With school teaching about this stuff

I have a problem

With the way the students react

As if they are not a part of the problem

I don’t endure being called

Dyke

or

Lesbo

Every single day

For you to then say

“I can’t believe they did that

To Harvey Milk”

I don’t keep quiet

When you call your friends

Faggots

So that you get to pretend

Like you give a shit about this

Do you know where the word

“Fag”

Comes from?

Probably not. Right?

Small history lesson:

A faggot was a bundle of sticks

They would use to burn

Gay people in the medieval times

We didn’t even get a stake

Because we were not worthy enough

Being gay was worse than

Being a witch in that time

Maybe you’ve heard about

The Stonewall riots

Maybe you haven’t

And yet, still, you go to the pride parade

With your friends, ever summer

It’s so much!

Gay people are the best!

There’s just one thing you always forget

First pride was a riot

First pride was a riot

First pride was a riot

You don’t seem to be aware of that.

So here is my piece of advice:

Before you start feeling bad for us

And apologizing about the deaths

Take a look at your own life.

Think about the things you have done,

You have said.

Think about how that might have an effect

On us.

Reevaluate.

Apologize for your own actions,

Not for the actions of others.