The Washington Post stayed with an initially-closeted gay teenager in Sand Springs for a year to see what it's really like to be gay in "Real America." The kid in question was harassed at school until he dropped out, is constantly pressured by his mother not to be who he is, and presents an impression of feeling inadequate in every dimension because he's not like his Oklahoma friends and because he's not like "sophisticated" gay kids from the coasts.

Still, he is 17, full of impulses. One day in PE class, a good-looking preppy guy on the bleachers strips off his T-shirt in the hot gymnasium. Before Michael can catch himself, his eyes drift. Stop looking at me, the other boy tells Michael in a voice loud enough to humiliate. This is the turning point at school. His secret is out.

"He was wanting to kick my ass," Michael later recalls. "I told my dad about it. He said, 'I'd kick your ass, too, if you were looking at me.' " Officially, ass-kicking is not allowed on school grounds since Oklahoma adopted anti-bullying laws. But Michael's life at Charles Page High turns miserable. He is called a faggot in the hallways. For his own safety, he starts avoiding places where he could be trapped.

While the rest of the country is laughing over "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," Michael stops using the restroom during the seven-hour school day.

It's a four-part series, with this guy's part apparently concluding tomorrow. This is what happens to the people who are the objects of "Christian Love." If you think people like James Dobson and Jerry Falwell are not evil incarnate for having an "honest religious belief" that gay people should just stop being gay, read this article and learn what it does to the people they harass - sometimes to their death - just so they can continue to stay in power by leading the hate.

Paraphrasing the gospels, James Dobson's going to be pretty damn shocked when he's burning in Hell and asking, "Lord, lord, why is Matthew Shepard with you and I'm in such torment?"