Slade+LeBlanc’s+Final+AmEx+2013+Speech

=Fear of dreams=

= = = = I’m Gay. Some of you in this class may say “but Slade your Facebook status says you’re interested in women” you’ve never hinted to being attracted to men. Others would say “but Slade your twitter.. oh wait your twitter isss kinda gay..” I have been quoted on tweets like “don’t let your dreams be dreams” and “Love is the answer for atleast most of the questions in my heart” and then you might think to yourself – he does occasionally wear V necks to school.. maybe he actually is gay. Well let’s just analyze the word gay. On Wikipedia the word gay is a term that primarily refers to a [|homosexual]  person or the trait of being homosexual, referring especially to males. It also refers to an inanimate object or abstract concept of which one disapproves and to weakness or unmanliness. The term was originally used to refer to feelings of being "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy". Well let’s go back use its original connotation. So maybe I am unmanly, but no I don’t want the “D”. Well this speech isn’t about my sexually or my twitter, it’s about something much more important than that, Fear. Cause what if I was homosexual, what if I had just revealed a secret sexual preference that I have been keeping from my even my closest friends and relatives. Would it matter, would it matter to any of you? Would you go spread the gossip, talk the shit, go to your group of friends and tell them about how “Slade came out” and how you secretly knew all along? Or would you continue with your life and thank me on my bravery. Would you care? Would it change your point of view of me? I’m pretty damn sure it would. I think a lot of people in this world live in the dark; scared to be who they are, frightened that people will lose respect and change their opinion on them. I think a lot of people live in Fear. And I mean Fear is only human right, it’s ingrained into our bodies to be scared at certain times in our lives. But to completely live in Fear, that’s just wrong isn’t it? It’s wrong not to tell the person that you love that you want to be with them, it’s wrong to be fearful to tell people about your sexuality, it’s wrong to be scared of what people think, or just afraid of what will happen, when you take the chance and tell that special person how you feel, or go in for that kiss, or even when you chase your dreams. Because what if one day the Fear of failure, kept you from success. It’s wrong to be so scared that you don’t even chase those dreams. That you don’t even give yourself a chance to fulfill your true potential because of Fear. This reminds of a quote from A Cinderella Story: you’re probably starting to question my sexuality again, but it’s says “don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” And Babe Ruth said that.  Fear can be good at times. It can keep a person from making a complete idiot out of themselves right? And how Fear is sometimes healthy, isn’t making mistakes good for a person at times too. I mean one of the main points of life is to learn from your mistakes and do better the next time, and if not, at least you’ve learned something. Maybe you disagree with me but I enjoy this quote from How I met your mother -“ There are certain things in life where you know it's a mistake but you don't really know it's a mistake because the only way to know that it really is a mistake is to make that mistake and go, "Yup, that was a mistake". So really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake because then you'll go about your whole life not knowing whether it was a mistake or not” and everybody makes mistakes. Yes that last part was a Hannah Montana reference. The reason why I chose Fear as my topic is because of the slogan for the new Will/Jaden smith movie After Earth, it is “danger is real, but fear is a choice” and I totally agree with this statement. Fear: although at time rationalizes people, is an unnecessary expenditure of life, Fear is the chain that binds us to reality and at times can keep a person from at times achieving their dreams. So in the America I grow old in, I would like to see people that reach for the stars, and that aren’t stopped or haunted by Fear. Where a person’s sexuality doesn’t matter to anyone that isn’t in romantic relations with that person. Even where a person is not restrained by a word that once held such a positive meaning, but is now referred to in such a negative connotation. Because everyone has Fear, but it’s a choice; it’s natural to Fear the future, the unknown, death, but it’s all a choice. I believe it’s easier to live without this Fear, the Fear of the future, Fear of failure, because life is about mistakes. So “don’t let your dreams be dreams” Jack Johnson said that, but I concur. And everyone I am gay.. but I’m not homosexual, and if I was, I hope that in our future America it wouldn’t matter, a place where a person can express how they feel, do what they want to, be who they are, and not be scared to chase their dreams, a place where everyone could be gay if they wanted to be. Thank you

= =