Every so often, I hear stories--or not even stories, just passing mentions--from kids who haven't gotten out of their parents' house yet. They talk about the hatred directed at them just because they're gay (and furry, but I don't lump furry in the same category as gay).

Often, these are people who get online (IRC, or AIM, or LJ, or whatever) because it's their only outlet. They are isolated, not allowed to have friends (or friends only under strict supervision), forced to depend on their homophobic parents for food and shelter because they can't or aren't permitted to provide for themselves, even if they're already of legal age to do so.

It frightens me how such diseased individuals can have kids. It frightens me how some parents can view their children not as individuals, but as extensions of themselves -- objects to own and control.

I'm not a parent, but even I know it's a fundamental mistake to punish your kid based on how upset you feel, rather than what they did. Yet there are parents kicking their kids out over something they can't even change.

If I ever get filthy rich, one of the first things I want to do is give these kids a welcoming, safe place to go.

-- Des