My name is J.J. and I found out about HeartStrong when I met Marc Adams  at a local PFLAG meeting about 5 months or so ago.  I'm a 17 year old lesbian who attends a  Catholic High School in southern Arizona.  I started coming out my
freshman year, and have gradually started telling  those around me (including teachers that I trust).  
 

Over the past year, I've had a lot of problems with harassment.  Although I get some harassment from the students, the main harassment that I get is from the administration.  It started out as being very  subtle.  The head counselor
made a  comment to me about keeping "what's private, private."  Over the year, it's gradually grown and  now the administration doesn't seem to be afraid to talk to me about  it.

As an out upperclassmen, I have a lot of younger students come up to me in private who are questioning their own sexuality.  This year, I met this young freshman  boy. He came to me because he thought that he was bisexual, and he,
with my help,  gradually came to accept that he was gay.  His acceptance lead to him becoming more willing to show his sexual  orientation.   He began to wear rainbow shoelaces with the rest of his all black attire.  
 

One day he came up to me in tears.  "Mrs. Barracuda told my mom I was  gay!" 
 

I was just shocked and  frustrated that the girls' dean would do something that evil.  He went on to tell me that the dean had  seen his shoelaces and made him sit down in the hall and take off his shoelaces  in the middle of passing periods with all the students passing him by.  She didn't say anything else, just threw  out his shoelaces and let him continue on his way to class.  He continued to tell me that when he got  home from school, his mother confronted
him because she said that the dean had  come up to her at school that day.  His mother told him that she did not support his "choice" and was even  more upset that she had to find out through the school  
 

Out of frustration, I felt that that moment was the  opportunity for me to talk to the head counselor about not only the harassment  from the students, but also from the harassment that was coming from the  teachers and administration.  
 

As I was called into the counseling office, the butterflies  in my stomach began to grow with each step that I took towards the office.  When I sat down in the head counselor's  office, the fear went away.  When  the counselor asked
me "what brought you here today," I willingly told him the  problem, thinking that he would be open to the problem.

After listening to me talk, he took a deep breath, sighed, and said, "I don't know what to do, it's your fault for coming out as gay.  I can't help you if you are going to put yourself into a situation where you're going to get  hurt."  He left it at that, and I,  stunned at his comment, walked out of the office.
 

It's been 2 months since I went and talked to the head  counselor.  I'm still shocked at  what I was told.  I've had to spend  the past two months trying to help this other young boy because this incident  crushed his confidence. 
 

Although  both of us would like to get out of that environment, the problem that both the young boy and I are faced with is the fact that our parents will not allow us to  leave the school.  I have one year  after this left, while he has another 3 years left.  I hope to possibly take it to the public, but it involves taking a great risk of us coming out in public.