A foreign exchange trip to Ecuador when he was 14 changed Jason’s life.
When Jason was 14 years old, he was a foreign exchange student in Ecuador. After befriending a native, they quickly developed a bond with each other. Before long, that bond lead to an unexpected, romantic, and incredibly meaningful kiss. Jason remembers:
He just grabbed me and grabbed the back of my head and full on kissed me on the mouth and I think that may have been one of my very first kisses too. And so my head was just awash I didn’t know what to do. That might have been one of the moments that changed my life and made me decide that it was okay for me to be gay, because I wasn’t going to be anything else.
(Editor’s note: It’s fascinating to listen to how masculinity is viewed in that culture, that being gay is not acceptable but physically touching and interacting with another man is.)
Originally posted at imfromdriftwood.com
I’m From Driftwood envisions a world where every lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer person feels excepted and understood, and every straight person is an ally.