David at Equality Loudoun just featured Queer Patrick Henry College in a very kind, welcoming post. As I read his blog post over my lunch break, I felt that things had come full circle.

Earlier today, Captain Jack published a moving post on the Soulforce visit. I remember that visit well. I was a frightened student, afraid of myself, afraid of others finding out about me. In the days leading up to the visit, I remember one of my acquaintances telling me in a hushed whisper that she hoped none of the Equality Riders would make it on campus. She kept saying that she was going to hide in her room so that she didn’t get stuck in one of the campus bathrooms with one of the Riders.

I felt both her fear and my shame. And when “Gay Day” arrived, I hid in my room for much of it, not because of the Equality Riders, but because of myself. I believed that somehow the truth was written across my face.

In the days before and after Soulforce visited, I kept up with the media coverage of the school’s poor response. I was so afraid that the school would track my internet usage over the campus network that I did much of my research off campus, in coffee shops with free Wi-Fi.

And that’s when I discovered Equality Loudoun. David’s blog posts were some of the first writings to give words to my inner turmoil — to the ways I felt that I (and others like me) were seen as “less than” in the eyes of my college administration. More recently, he published a post entitled: “You are not alone, not even at Patrick Henry College.” The post deeply moved me, as I remembered my own loneliness at PHC, and imagined the ongoing loneliness of LGBTQ students who are currently enrolled.

Thank you for being a voice of truth and encouragement, David Weintraub.