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54 <strong>Switchgrass</strong> <strong>Review</strong> • Vol. 6<br />
John Haymaker<br />
Letter to my Brave Face<br />
You were thirteen and gay. It was 1969. Playground taunts often reminded<br />
you that being homo was the worst thing anyone could be, worse than being<br />
a murderer on death-row. Yet you asked a favorite teacher, Mr. Costopolous,<br />
if the government deported known homosexuals. “Who’d want you?” Mr<br />
C. spat back and pivoted away like the Vietnam vet he was. Rude response,<br />
yet you felt reassured knowing you couldn’t be deported. No country would<br />
accept you. Still, you never hid your sexual bent, not from Mr. C or from<br />
the government. Good to find the world grew ever more understanding and<br />
welcoming for homosexuals. And by the way, we’re all learning too that deathrow<br />
convicts are often innocent.
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