Although I think Deerfield is becoming increasingly tolerant of homosexuality, I feel as though we are not as accepting as we could be. A contributing factor to this could simply be that we are a largely heterosexual community, and gay students in the community are a very clear minority; but I think the true issue is that homosexuality is not accepted as “normal.”
As was pointed out on Coming Out Day, the day itself only highlights that the students who gathered the courage to stand in front of the entire school are different from most of the people in the audience. It was fantastic to see how supportive the community was of those who came out, but also unfortunate to see that we feel the need to label people as gay or straight. I think that the definition of “normal” has changed immensely in recent years, and it would be beneficial to see Deerfield accept the “new normal” and move forward.