Read's skewed and skewered version of the holy trinity of American adolescence-sex, drugs, and rock and roll-is described in his unique voice: he became sexually active at a time when we were only just learning that sex can kill, began saying yes to drugs when Nancy Reagan were just saying no and when underground music was still buried. Passing through the tough terrain of Bible Belt guilt and culturally ingrained sexual hypocrisy, Read acknowledged his difference first to those closest to him-with with expected doses of fag-baiting-and with acceptance from surprising corners. But early Read began to show the surety and openness that has marked his later life and career as a young, queer journalist. One would expect that a young gay man growing up in such a way would lead a tortured teen life. Son: Little League/soccer player, Baptist youth group member, a straight-jawed boy from a long line of VMI men. Kirk Read's youth in the Shenandoah Valley had the outward signs of a comfortable adolescence in the Reagan-era South.
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