THEN:
- I was a high school senior in Winchester, Indiana. I had already come out to my parents, teachers and classmates.
- My favorite class was journalism; I was the editor for the yearbook and features editor for the school newspaper.
- I'd just moved back into my mother's house for my last semester after getting my own apartment at 16.
- I had a girlfriend and a boyfriend. They knew about each other and didn't mind.
- I'd never heard of a transgender person.
- I worked for The Palladium Item newspaper as a stringer covering Randolph County and exciting stuff like school board meetings.
- My best friend was a "straight" guy. You could cut the sexual tension between us with a knife, but we never had sex.
- I dreamed of being a "professional gay" that worked solely for gay rights.
- I loved video games and often stayed up too late playing them. My faves were Mario Brothers 2 and Zelda.
- This was the first time I dyed my hair. Sadly, it wouldn't be the last.
NOW:
- While I left Winchester long ago, I have never lived outside of Indiana.
- I still make my living by my
typewritercomputer only now I write about LGBT issues. I'm a "professional gay." - My favorite place to sit/talk/work is still the kitchen table.
- I recently started talking to my old girlfriend again on Facebook. Apparently, she did mind.
- My parents and I still have a very strained relationship.
- My best friends are a trans man and a lesbian.
- I don't wear contacts any more because I can't stand poking my finger in my eye. Instead, I have two pairs of glasses I switch between.
- I'm still the same weight I was in high school; I still love ugly sweaters too.
- I love video games and often stay up too late playing them. I've been playing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for months.
- I still have horrible hair that's a bunch of unruly curls unless it's kept short.
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20 Comments
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OMG, Farrah, I loved you in Charlies Angels!
This might be the best then/now post yet. Let's force everybody else to do it!
Father Tony | May 15, 2009 6:13 PM
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XD
Don't be hating on Bil's hair!
Unlike most zombies obsessed with straight hair due to the core ethnocentrism in our culture, both curly, wavy, and kinky hair are very beautiful, Bil.
Don't let anyone make you hate your hair. It just so happens that long hair is high maintenance.
Lucrece | May 15, 2009 6:29 PM
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People always expect more of you when you have naturally curly hair.
Tony's right: everyone should contribute to this series. I'm loving it.
Betty Greene Salwak | May 15, 2009 7:40 PM
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BonJovi. I used to have bangs too. Somehow they disappeared.
ewe | May 15, 2009 6:36 PM
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That's funny ewe. Jerame scanned the pic for me and he titled it billybonjovi.jpg LMAO
Bil Browning | May 15, 2009 6:47 PM
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Cute kid. Well, to me, you'll always be a "kid."
Monica (Old Lady) Helms
MonicaHelms | May 15, 2009 6:50 PM
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I never would have guessed that was you. Gotta love those blue eyes!!!!
Annette | May 15, 2009 6:54 PM
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Send that sweater to the Vatican. It is loaded with Da Vinci secret codes.
Charles Merrill | May 15, 2009 7:57 PM
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As I'm reading this, Google is serving up an ad for a curling iron! LMAO.
My hair is a mess of unruly curls, too, btw, but I let it grow a little longer because if I don't, I look like a twelve-year-old boy. (I don't mind the boy part as much as the twelve-year-old part. It's bad enough my son will be taller than I am by the time he's eight.)
Dana Rudolph | May 15, 2009 9:14 PM
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Bil, you have the most amazing eyes.
null | May 15, 2009 10:26 PM
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OMG, how cute are you! I'm seeing more of a young Mick Jagger than Jon or Farrah. And the blue eyes made the hair color work!
Rory | May 15, 2009 11:21 PM
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Bil,
I'm jealous. Weighing the same as yo did in high school. I was a bit pudgy in high school and have gone past pudgy in my adult life--you see food is one of my drugs of choice.
I LOVE the curls. I think guys with curly hair are hot. I used to bad mouth my gray hair until someone told me it wasn't gray--it is silver.
Rick Elliott | May 16, 2009 1:43 AM
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Interesting that you dreamed of becoming a "professional gay" because as far back as college in 1975 I remember thinking that I DIDN'T want to become a "professional homosexual" like some people I knew (Frank Kameny, Barbara Gittings).
I went through a very selfish phase. I'm not proud of it, but I own it. I'm different now.
JoyZeeBoy | May 16, 2009 6:12 AM
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I always knew I wanted to dedicate my life to LGBT activism. I've always seen it as a civil rights struggle that needed resolved.
I used to sit in my apartment and devour The Advocate - the only LGBT news I could get in Winchester. I wanted to write for them and cover the people they were talking about who were making a difference in people's lives.
Bil Browning | May 16, 2009 1:37 PM
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Any thoughts on posting "Then and Now" for non-contributors?
MonicaHelms | May 16, 2009 9:18 AM
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Yup. Watch the blog at 2pm Saturday. :)
Bil Browning | May 16, 2009 1:34 PM
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Horrible hair?!?!? This is my first time commenting; I went through registration and all just to say that your hair looked terrific. And WOW so did/do your eyes. Why weren't you at my high school? Sigh.
Steve | May 16, 2009 1:36 PM
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You've got some great eyes.....
tobyhannabill | May 16, 2009 4:30 PM
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ZELDA! I once played for so long, I swear I did permanent damage to my bladder.
I wouldn't leave the screen.
there is a new zelda out you know....
I, too, love video games. I can say my oldest was conceived during a long day of playing Myst with my wife, and when my temp dropped, we took a small break to inseminate, then back to it.
while I am lazy and just play games, she has actually made a career of it. that's why it's good to marry a type A personality...
Sara Whitman | May 17, 2009 7:33 AM
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Hey, Bil,
You look much happier and just love the smile. Kudos on showing your own eyes now. Oh, and I am still playing computer games, too.
ksandweg | June 5, 2009 1:17 PM
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