GREASE

Grease - June 16, 1978 - Today we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the movie musical Grease.

Grease was a life changer for me. I saw the movie multiple times during the summer of 1978. I was 11 years old and entering sixth grade in the fall. My life would soon change drastically for the next seven years. I felt like I entered that school year with having an average school experience prior. I had friends at school but all of a sudden it seemed to me that everyone else changed. All the other kids started calling me gay, fag, fairy, homo and any other derogatory term possible. Not one day went by without the teasing, bullying and making fun of me continuously. I withdrew from myself and just internalized everything. I didn't respond, I kept quiet and did not fight back or engage with the bullies.

I was able to escape when watching Grease. I always imagined what it would be like to have a school and teenage experience like Rydell high school in Grease. I felt everything through music and wanted to sing and dance in the hallways of school. I think I wore the soundtrack out on vinyl and cassette. Films like Grease and so many others provided myself an outlet from my every day reality of mental, physical and psychological abuse.

I absolutely fell in love with Olivia Newton John and John Travolta. It was the first time I felt an attraction to a man and a woman. Naturally, at that time I didn't know what it all meant but I felt a sense of belonging and inclusion. Grease is the word