PHOTO BY
P
PHOTO BY
Knowledge is power
Prineville teen steps out of the closet
and into the spotlight BY T om S tevenson
rineville’s Morgan Hawes sought the wisdom o f others as he
tried to determine the right time to come out o f the closet.
He talked on the Internet and telephone to people who
had made the big step. Those who spoke with him said he
would know when the right time arrived.
Hawes confesses today that he did not quite understand what
they were talking about. Then, the day came when he knew it was
right. It was time.
He gathered his courage. He faced his classmates and teacher at
Crook County High as well as some college professors who were visit
ing the school from Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls.
His hands shook. His voice quivered slightly. And then he
spoke the words: “This is the very first time I have ever publicly
admitted that I am gay.”
Now an 18-year-old who is counting the days until he begins
the next stage of his life— four years of studies at Linfield College’s
Portland campus— Hawes recounts the day with a mixture of
gratitude and glee. Few people in the small central Oregon
town knew prior to the speech that he was gay.
Less than a year before, in August 2001, he came out to a
close female friend. During the next several months he told
a few more.
But confiding in his closest peers was one thing.
Announcing it to everyone was quite another.
“1 knew that support was going to swing far left or far
right,” Hawes says. “After the speech, the majority of the
class was in tears, straight guys and girls alike.... It turns out
that my most supportive people were my guy friends. They
acted exactly the same around me and helped me^to realize
that I am not such a weirdo.”
Continued on Page 15
Scholarship winner Morgan Hawes (right) is congratulated by his
boyfriend, Kyle Teater