The Land of Glitter

and

The story of Triangle Girl

Once upon a time many years ago . . .

there was born a little girl triangle.

She was born to two triangle parents, a pink mother and a blue father, as was normal for a triangle baby.

They brought her to their home, showed her to her triangle siblings, and began their lives as new parents again.  to her parents, Triangle Girl was perfect, with all the things a triangle should have: three sides and three angles, with sharp little points.

Others in Triangle Girl's life, however, began to notice strange things . . .

Welcome to the Land of Glitter, pixies, and rainbows!  The story of Triangle Girl, that adventurous little polygon, has just begun.  Read on, whon't you?  And into this twisty story you may read what you will . . .

When Triangle Girl grew big enough, her triangle parents took her to go to school with all of the other triangular children.  Triangle Girl enjoyed school very much, but her teachers soon began to watch her, for they indeed saw those strange things.

The teachers saw that she was different from the other little triangular children.  Instead of resting straight on her two feet, as was normal and good for a triangle person, she liked to turn herself upside-down.  She wasn't a normal triangle at all; she was an upside-down triangle!

And so the plot thickens.  But how do Triangle Girl's mentors react?  Read on . . .

And do you wonder if maybe there's some metaphor in the whole triangle/upside-down triangle thing?

Now, her teachers were not cruel; they meant well.  Even though they saw that she was an upside-down triangle, which all the rest of the triangular world said was unnatural, they wanted the best for her.

Now, her teachers were not cruel; they meant well.  Even though they saw that she was an upside-down triangle, which all the rest of the triangular world said was unnatural, they wanted the best for her.  They really did mean well.  But meaning well isn't everything.  The only thing they knew to do was to bind her down with heavy chains.  However, these chains were not ordinary chains.  They were invisible chains of "No's" and "Don'ts" and "Keep your hands to yourself's" that Triangle Girl would never see.

So, Triangle Girl grew up with her chains.  Of course, she didn't even notice them, and she walked around right-side up, just like everyone else.  Triangle Girl never really even wondered why it was that walking upright felt funny.  But things were not all fixed by those chains!  One day, when Triangle Girl had grown quite a bit older, she looked in her triangular mirror and saw that she wasn't pink like the other girl triangles.  Instead, she was printed in bright rainbow colors.  Puzzled with this strange thing, Triangle Girl went to her triangular girlfriends to ask their opinion of this strange development.  Her girlfriends, however, were of very little help.  They meant well.  They liked Triangle Girl, for she was fun and interesting.  They really did mean well.  But meaning well isn't everything.  They told her it was very unfashionable and painted her pink.

Puzzled with this strange thing, Triangle Girl went to her triangular girlfriends to ask their opinion of this strange development.  Her girlfriends, however, were of very little help.  They meant well.  They liked Triangle Girl, for she was fun and interesting.  They really did mean well.  But meaning well isn't everything.  They told her it was very unfashionable and painted her pink.

So, for a while Triangle Girl did as they said, and painted herself in pink everyday to look like all of the other triangular girls, and no one even seemed to notice that it was paint.  However, one day she forgot to do so, and the paint began to crack!  Now, her triangle parents hadn't let themselves see her when she was rainbow-colored, and so hadn't noticed when she had changed to pink, but they could not fail to notice rainbow streaks.

Triangle Girl's parents meant well.  They loved her, and wanted their little triangular daughter to live a happy, easy life.  They really did mean well.  But meaning well isn't everything!  They knew that the rest of teh triangle world didn't like rainbow-colored triangles, so they painted her pink again and chased her into the closet to hide.

So, we're starting to get a pattern here.  Can anyone guess what metaphorical play on society this tale is making?  I'll give a cookie to anyone that does!  But don't despair for little Triangle Girl.  There's a happy ending for Triangle Girl, just like there's a happy ending for me, and all you other little upside-down rainbow triangles out there.  Read on . . . after all, it's always darkest . . .

They had all meant well.  But the little triangle was not happy!  During every day that she spent in the closet she cried.  She felt suffocated now by that false, pink paint, and longed to feel the touch of the sun, to reach towards the blue sky, but she could not.  She was held down by those ancient chains.  And finally Triangle Girl realized this and saw the rusty chains for the first time, and saw the rust-colored scars they had made where they touched her skin.

They had all meant well, but she was horrified that the people who loved her would do such a thing.  Triangle Girl decided that it was time to fight back, so she stepped out of the closet, cast off her chains, and set herself free!  It was not easy to turn back into an upside-down triangle after so many years.  Triangle Girl could hardly remember how.  Nor was it easy to be brave enough to step into a room wearing her rainbow colors.  For, though her parents and teachers and friends had been wrong in chaining and painting and hiding her, they had been right in their reasons.  The triangle world was not a rainbow-friendly place!  Triangle Girl was dragged back down many times, and of course they all still meant well . . . but Triangle Girl didn't like well-meaning people anymore!

At times she was unhappy, but she continued to battle the well-meaning.  And she was free.  Though there was pain enough, the little upside-down triangle was actually quite pleased with her life, and or course rainbow colors did make quite an inpression on new people; and the more she looked through the triangle world, the more she found that all around her were others, some chained, some not, some free, some not, who were like her.  So Triangle Girl fought back, and she joined the rainbow revolution.

And thus the story of Triangle Girl comes to an end.  The moral of the story?  Don't ask me.  That's for you to agonize over!

Now, I am willing to assume that most of you who have read this have figured out the oh so subtle metaphor that is behind this.  Those of you that haven't would probably be much happier reading a real children's story.  The tale of Triangle Girl is the tale of being gay in a society that at best tolerates us.

This story was written in my first year of high school.  I wrote it in English class while I was supposed to be writing an essay on something else entirely.  Definitely not a story about a triangle!  While not entirely about my life, it was my way of coming out to my friends.  I printed out twenty or thirty copies with my name on the header of each and planted them in my school cafeteria.

I was lucky.  My school was and is an extremely liberal and open environment, and I got great feedback from most of my friends.  However, before I seeded my school with the sattire written above, I had had my own battles with the well meaning.  Not my parents, because I have to admit that I have yet to tackle that, so shhhhhh . . . but with my friends and teachers, and my older brother.  Ahh, familial love!  But the well-meaning kept me in the closet, and kept me unhappy.  boo hoo, right?  Just think on this.  Gay or no, have you ever played the part of the well meaning?  Watch it, cause you might just have a sattire written about you someday :)

So, do your own thinking, and draw your own conclusions.  Do research, read up, hell, even read the Bible and decide for yourself whether or not the story of Sodom and Gom-however-you-spell-is proof enough of "Gods hatred of the abominal, homosexual phenomenon" upon which to base an entire culture's hatred of beautiful people.  There's all sorts of places you can go :)  You could even try the Official Gay Web Site.  My thanks to Yahoo for providing a wonderful place to have a page.  Keep fighting, my popsies :)                   (--Jen C.)(

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since 12:00 AM CT, 7 - 8 - 2000