He clenched his eyes shut tight, made his jaw flex to keep from grinding his teeth together. "All my life, I've been taught that bein' anything but straight could get somebody killed, and that's still happening now. Maybe not right here, but I've seen enough of the news to know there's people on the sides of the roads with huge signs saying 'God Hates Fags' and worse. And I don't want to feel like I do, I don't want to feel like I'm in danger from those idiots because I'm more dangerous than they are, but this shit doesn't go away this fast, even though I want it to."