Answers in the Pages

by David Levithan

The proper defense is ‘It doesn’t matter if they’re gay. The characters can be whoever they are.’

what we really meant, of course, was a big hooray for the fact that Curtis was gay. And I say we here because I was definitely one of the kids cheering.

“You can’t have adventures without freedom,” Melody pointed out. “And you can’t have freedom if you’re not willing to defend it from the people who want to take it away.”

My friends really loved the phrase homosexual book, which made it sound like the book itself was gay and was going to start kissing the other gay books on the shelf.

The whole point of education is to dispel ignorance and teach children about the world they live in.

She wasn’t ready to understand that I was gay, and when you’re not ready to understand something, you become afraid of it.

I think some of the parents who are most afraid of this book are actually afraid that the world you’re growing up in isn’t the world they grew up in. And rather than adjust, they think they can keep it the same. That never works, not in a free society.”

This should not be a matter of debate, because a person’s humanity should never be a matter of debate. Instead, it is a matter of the highest principle we can aspire to, which is equality.

My parents say that telling someone who you really are is a gift you give to them, not something you owe them.