Life has been great for high school volleyball player Galen Dodd after coming out
Life has been great for high school volleyball player Galen Dodd after coming out
Editor’s note: When we published the story of then-15-year-old high school volleyball player Galen Dodd in October, he was the youngest person to come out on Outsports. We asked him to reflect on the impact of his story since.
It’s awesome when a teammate has your back. I learned that after I came out publicly and it was no longer a secret that one high school and club volleyball player was gay.
In particular, one of my best friends and teammates, Vinny, was at a party with many players from a rival club team and the players were all ragging on me and thinking it was weird to have a gay guy on the team. Vinny stood up and defended me by saying, “No, there’s nothing different with him than when he was before coming out, he’s actually really chill.” That ended the discussion.
Having such a good friend who is willing to stand up and say “don’t call him a fag, it’s not OK, one of my best friend’s is gay” is such an amazing feeling. I know that he’s going to have my back through anything now.
It’s now been 10 months since coming out publicly — one of the most liberating moments of my life. It’s been eight months since writing my coming out story for Outsports in October, when I put myself in the public eye for the first time. Both of these moments have greatly impacted my life; it’s built new and closer friendships, a greater team chemistry on and off the court and has made me more confident in my life.
http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2012/06/07/life-has-been-great-for-high-school-volleyball-player-galen-dodd-after-coming-out/
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