I Am Michael

1

Hi, I'm Michael.

Paul.

I hear you're

having some trouble.

It's okay.

It's okay.

I just...

Don't understand...

Why god made me like this.

He didn't.

Trust me.

Let me tell you something.

You should never define yourself

by your choices or your desires.

Gay doesn't exist.

It's a false identity.

This isn't my choice.

Why would I choose this?

You always have a choice.

You wanna go to heaven, right?

Yes.

If you're a moral person,

then you'll choose

heterosexuality

in order to be with god.

Hey.

Hey. Hey.

Where you going?

I'm gonna make us breakfast.

No.

Yeah, come on.

Breakfast is the most

important part of the day.

I'll have muffins at my meeting.

Muffins?

Yeah, muffins.

Blueberry.

Mmm, blueberry.

Okay, then we'll do lunch, okay?

Mmm, morning breath.

Oh, stop it!

Get off!

It's so cool

that you work at XY.

Yeah. Yeah, it's rad.

You guys are like the only cool

gay magazine out there right now.

Oh, yeah, sort of.

Hey, listen up, queens.

XY magazine is taking over!

It's our time to shine!

Matthew Shepard

was an openly gay man.

When he went to a Laramie,

Wyoming bar last week,

these two suspects

lured him outside,

pretending to be gay.

Now they're charged

with a vicious attack

that left Shepard

hanging on this fence

for 18 hours

in freezing temperatures.

Shepard remained on

life support until this morning

when he passed away.

Shepard's family

is grateful for support

from around the world.

They killed him

because they were afraid,

and they were afraid because of

what their churches tell them

and because of what

they see in movies.

It's f***ing ridiculous.

I hope they get

the death penalty.

You're against the death penalty.

Not in this case.

That's like being

for free speech

until someone tells you

something that pisses you off.

He died a slow death

after being tied to a fence

and tortured.

Exactly, a slow death

is way more painful.

They should spend the rest

of their lives in prison.

Okay, look, we need

to move away from labels

because they segment

and they lead to persecution.

People don't wanna be

perceived as gay because...

They're afraid

they'll end up like Matthew.

But we are a gay magazine.

Identifying as gay

is being part of a community.

It's recognition,

it's progress...

We've been telling the kids in the magazine

to come out, to be proud to be gay.

They should be proud

to be themselves.

Gay and straight

are just social constructs.

Ugh. God,

you and your queer theory.

Class is in session

with professor Michael Glatze.

Shut up.

Okay, okay, look.

We need to put out the message

that being attracted

to the same sex

doesn't define who you are.

Hey.

Have you been smoking?

Just one.

Small one.

It was a small cigarette.

Busted.

Letters to the editor.

Ninety percent are some poor

teen with religious parents.

F***ing Christian fundamentalists

should burn in hell.

Uh, okay.

In the meantime,

there is a design competition

for the Halifax

international airport.

I don't wanna move to Halifax.

I know, but my father wants me

to head up the bid committee.

It's huge.

Halifax is so boring.

Your hometown is boring.

It's not.

Olympia?

Yeah.

It's all trees

and fog and coffee.

And the birthplace

of the riot grrrl movement

and where Kurt Cobain

wrote most of nevermind.

Oh, well...

Yeah.

In that case...

But it's unsustainable here,

unless you're in

the dot-com movement,

and I don't wanna live

in a studio on mission street

when we're 50.

Well, we won't be.

We'll be in a big mansion

on a hill. Duh.

May 21st, 2000.

I used to imagine myself

growing old

while living in a house

atop a hill in the Castro,

but what's more important to me

is growing old

with the love of my life:

Bennett.

So I'm leaving San Francisco

to live in Halifax, Canada.

Although I'm sad

to leave XY magazine,

I'm excited to finally accept

the speaking offers

I've been receiving

this past year,

thanks to my work

as a writer and activist.

What a lot of people

aren't aware of

is that the terms "heterosexual"

and "homosexual"

were only introduced

about a hundred years ago.

As my mother used to always say,

"when you help others,

you're helping yourself

as well."

We often read about

more sexually...

My goal is to thread a needle

through the fabric

of this country

and stitch together the lives

of gay kids everywhere.

I know a lot of you

are balancing religion

and sexuality,

but I mean, come on,

what god would punish you

for finding love?

This is where I spread

my mom's ashes.

Oh, my god.

She's still here.

Mom, I'm gonna

stay here with you.

No.

Don't be stubborn.

You are not skipping

a semester to be with me.

I can help you through this.

I'm gonna be fine.

I told you.

I feel better.

Really, Michael.

I am so proud of you.

I love you so much.

Hmm. I love you.

I should've stayed.

Everyone kept saying,

"don't worry, we're praying

for her, don't worry."

Everyone's gonna die.

No amount of praying

is ever gonna change that.

You're not getting up yet.

Five minutes more.

I can't believe I'm approaching

my one-year anniversary

here in Halifax,

Nova Scotia, Canada.

The food is amazing,

especially the Sushi.

The people are friendly

and although the gay community

is much smaller

than San Francisco,

I have some big plans

to really make an impact.

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