Tim Walz Minnesota Football Schools students Gay Parke orienteering Southern Tim Walz Minnesota

25 Years Ago, a Gay Student Sought Support. His School Turned to Tim Walz.

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nytimes.com

Taunts and threats escalated as rumors about Jacob Reitan’s sexual orientation swirled around his southern Minnesota high school during his senior year in 1999.

Someone chalked a slur on his driveway in giant letters. His mother recalled being horrified by anonymous mail that arrived at their home, including one message that said her gay son would be better off dead.

After the teenager found his car window smashed in the school parking lot, he told officials at Mankato West High School that he intended to come out of the closet and sought their support to start a gay-straight alliance club.

The principal made an unconventional decision in the choice of a faculty adviser for the club, which the high school had never had before in this relatively conservative city: Tim Walz, a geography teacher who was also a football coach.

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I think about where my life would have been, and especially being a closeted person in a state like Mississippi. Like, how long would it have taken me to realize who I was? Would I have been that type of person to just kind of try to ignore those feelings and actually marry that girlfriend of mine?I knew at that moment [going to Orlando to audition for ‘NSYNC for the first time], like, holy crap, I don’t think I’m going back to Mississippi.I don’t know how far I would have taken living in a place like [Mississippi], and not being a part of a business like entertainment, where it was so easy to be yourself and to be free.I think about that all the time, and I think entertainment saved me, like, saved my life.
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