Dear Mona:
I've known I was gay since I was 6-years-old, but since I live in an extremely homophobic town. I am desperate to be in a relationship and I feel alone most of the time. I'm also very insecure, because I have had a very harsh childhood in which I began to eat out of control. I've wanted to be in a relationship since I was a child. I need to know what to do.

Dear 451:
Montag, the protagonist in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, was ready to start building things instead of tearing them down, but was surrounded by people who hated what he was growing to love. By coming out as a book lover he risked being ridiculed, isolated and burned alive. The more his past and the world around him conflicted with the person he wanted to be, the more alone he felt and the stronger his urges to break free. He thought, if only he had what he long desired—the ability to understand the books that he previously burned—he'd find freedom. Then a friend reminded him not to "look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for the shore." Jump to more

We've mourned too many of our youth this week. This year, in fact. Slain because they are who they are. And with such brutality.

A West Baltimore church filled with family, friends, classmates and strangers Wednesday. They payed their respects to Jason Mattison, Jr., killed last week in a brutal attack that left him raped, gagged, stabbed repeatedly in the head and throat and shoved into a closet. He was 15-years-old. Police say a family friend, Dante Parrish, confessed to the killing.

But those that cared for Mattison chose to focus on who he was and not how his life ended. The Baltimore Sun says mourners "recalled Jason for his sharp, dry wit, chic clothes and uplifting demeanor." Jump to Baltimore Sun for more.

On Tuesday, a suspect was apprehended for the slaying of 19-year-old Puerto Rican man Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado.

An African woman wins the 800-meter race at the track and field world championships, far outpacing international competition. Months before, at the African Juniors Championships, she shaved seven seconds from her fastest 2008 time. Caster Semenya was on track to become the next super athlete, garnering international praise and global attention for African athletics outside of distance runs.

Semenya instead became the center of the most misogynist controversy of the decade. She could not possibly be an African woman, her competitors claimed. She must be a man. The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) agreed. Look at her thighs, six pack, and muscular arms. What many would imagine an African man to be.

The IAAF ordered a series of genetic tests to determine Semenya's sex, threatening to strip her of her title should results come back as they expected. A call for confirmation in such a public and humiliating manner would not have been exhorted had Semenya not been Semenya. But her thighs and jagged jaw bones...

Today, the South African sports ministry announced that the results are in. Caster Semenya's birth gender has been confirmed as... confidential. The runner will keep her 800-meter gold medal and prize money from the world championships. The results of her test will remain confidential under doctor-patient trust. The IAAF was expected to announce the results on Friday.

"Whatever scientific tests were conducted legally within the IAAF regulations will be treated as a confidential matter between patient and doctor," the sports ministry said. "As such there will be no public announcement of what the panel of scientists has found. We urge all South Africans and other people to respect this professional ethical and moral way of doing things."

The fruits of the IAAF's labors will forever be sealed, allowing her to keep her earned title; but Semenya's career has already been stripped of its sweet beginnings. Due to the IAAF's irresponsible response to the eligibility of its athletes, Semenya's gender will always be called into question—a mark just as jarring to her career as her appearance is to her competitors.

An Arkansas 10-year-old wants "liberty and justice for all," including gays and lesbians. Will Phillips decided not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance during class because he feels it does not include all Americans.

Phillips decided not to stand the weekend before while studying the pledge. "I was analyzing the meanings of it because I want to be a lawyer," the 10-year-old said during a CNN interview. "I looked at the end," he continued, "and it said 'liberty and justice for all' and there really isn't liberty and justice for all. Gays and lesbians cant marry. There is still a lot of racism and sexism in the world."

When challenged by his substitute teacher, Phillips responded "solemnly, with a little bit of malice in my voice" and told her "Ma'am, with all due respect, you can go jump off a bridge..."

Now, if only 10-year-olds could vote...