and so in many ways it s similar to some places in fla fl. he was a good christian county boy. there was no differentiating from the norm. i grew up learning about matthew shepherd and thought for sure something like that could have happened to me if someone found out i was different. i really did fear for my safety and my life. i saw parents and educators telling me that gay people are wrong. sometimes saying even worse things. and as i mentioned, that trevor project survey, kids take that to heart. they learn from a very young age whether they re accepted or not. they re constantly listening. for 18 years all i learned was something about you is twisted. so we have to approach these things with urgency. making sure that kids feel safe enough to come to school. sometimes teachers, especially for me, were my safe place. teachers want to be that place where kids feel comfortable learning and we should be making sure that school is a place where kids feel safe. safe to learn.