Don't Be Ashamed of Your Color: Am I Blue?

             In the book Am I Blue by Bruce Coville, the main character Vince is very confused about many things, but one thing he is not confused about is his confusion about his sexuality. In the very beginning of the story, Vince is lying facedown in a puddle in which Butch Carrigan had thrown him.  I could already tell that Vince is bullied, and judging by Bruce's words, it is probably because he is thought to be gay. I can already tell that Vince has not been able to defend himself. And I can already tell, that by the end of the book, Vince is going to have to find out who he is, and who he is not. And I was right. When Melvin, Vince's "Fairy Godfather" who is openly gay, shows Vince "Gaydar," a device that shows homosexual status using the color blue, Vince starts to change. This is when he realizes that the studies are pretty much true, that one in every ten people are homosexual. Vince really changes when he is watching the news and sees a well-known man who is publicly against gays. When Vince sees the man is very much blue, he is annoyed, but now he sees what he has to do, gay people are so scared to come out in the open about their sexuality that they are literally acting against it. If the whole world knew about these people, gay people would not have to be in hiding anymore.

             I think if everyone knew who is gay and who isn't, the whole world would be different. When people realize the inevitable, that people they know are gay, that their doctor is gay, their brother, their uncle, they'd have to accept people of different sexualities in their communities. There would be less bullying people because of the way they act or look or dress or talk, because people's sexuality are out in the public, and there's no changing that. You can't bully someone into hiding if they can't control their public status. It would be a better world, a safer world for some. And I think what this short story is trying to tell us is that we need to accept that one in every ten people is gay. And that the person who is bullying you about your being gay could be just as gay as you are.  I think that is an important message to spread.

            When I finished this short story the focus of the story was a bit hazy to me. Is Bruce Coville trying to say that homosexual people should not hide who they are or is he saying that nobody should bully somebody for any reason whatsoever? Or was he trying to point out that many people who bully people in the world only do it so that the secret they are hiding is not exposed? So that they are not bullied first. Then I realized that a focus doesn't have to be too specific. It could be all of these. And so I decided to write about something not too specific, but just the general idea of the story and what would happen if everyone in the world read this story. I recommend that you read the story because it can change your perspective about being "gay."