Caroline walked into the room more quietly than she normally did and quietly stood along the wall. The sign on the door said 'LGBTIQ and friends welcome'. She spotted the three teachers who were officially guiding the new club, Anna, Henrique and Amel. All were kind and strong, the sort of leaders the young LGBTIQ students would need in their corner.

There were a lot more students than they had anticipated. She had thought only a few might turn up, but the violent incident two weeks ago had shaken everyone and there were nearly forty students in the packed classroom.

The one she noticed first was Peter, the bruising on his face still visible and the cast on his arm freshly adorned with quotes of support and signatures from staff and students alike.

Henrique, the eldest of the teachers, cleared his throat and the room fell silent, waiting. There was a nervous excitement in the room and several students had stolen glances at Caroline. "Welcome all to the inaugural meeting of the LGBTIQ and Friends club. Everyone is welcome. I'd especially like to welcome Peter back to school. We're very happy you're here with us. I'd like to express how sorry we are that you were targeted by homophobic bullies, but we will be with you every step of the way from now on."

Henrique turned to Caroline. "I'd also like to welcome our Head Teacher, Dr. McKenzie-Dawson, who asked to come to our meeting." He gestured to Caroline that she had the floor.

Caroline moved forward so that she'd be clearly visible to everyone. She held her back straight and smiled a bit nervously to the group. Really, she told herself, none would be more supportive than the group of staff and students in this room. She took a deep breath.

"Good afternoon all. Welcome back again Peter. Delighted that you are here with us today." She smiled directly at Peter, who was nursing the arm with the cast. "I did wish to join you today for a couple of reasons. Firstly I wish to let you know that this club, and you, have my full support. The bullying and violence suffered by Peter, and by many of you in the past, will be dealt with. The school has a policy that will be followed; homophobic violence and bullying will not be tolerated. The three students who hurt Peter have been expelled, as you know. What you may not know, and Peter has kindly let me share this with you, is that the three former students involved have been charged and will face court in the next few months."

Caroline looked around the room, letting this sink in. "Hopefully it won't happen again. However, if you are having problems and you don't think it is being dealt with properly, come and see me. I mean it." Caroline looked around the room, meeting the eyes of every student, all of whom were watching her intently.

"Secondly, I'd like to explain why you have such a strong supporter." This was it. She took a deep breath. "I am a lesbian. I am in a committed relationship with a woman." She paused while the students looked at her with slack jaws, nudging each other to make sure their friends were hearing this too. "Yep. I sleep with a woman. It took me a long time to be able to say that, so don't worry if you're not there yet. I'm ancient; you have time." There were a few chuckles in the room. Caroline was aiming for friendly rather than intimidating, not that the students weren't intimidated anyway.

Caroline looked at the three teachers and mentors for the group. "Yes, I'm coming out of the closet, again. I was 'out' at my last school and everyone knew about my wife and me. As some of you know," Caroline was looking at some of the older students who had been visibly out for a while, "you never come out just once; it is something you do all your life, with nearly everyone new that you meet. The assumption of heterosexuality means that we are forever explaining who we are to people not like us. When I was your age, I was terrified to be me, so I applaud your courage. Just being in this room means that you have courage and wisdom beyond your years and I applaud you all.

"I wish you all the best. I leave you in the capable hands of Henrique, Anna and Amel." Caroline nodded to Henrique to continue and turned to leave. She turned back, "Oh, and one last thing. You get to tell the rest of the school." Some of the group laughed quietly, loving the idea of knowing this most juicy bit of gossip before the rest of the school.

"Thanks miss," came out loudly from several students, while others were still stunned into silence. Caroline smiled broadly and nodded, turning to leave them to their meeting. The moment she closed the door behind her, she smiled to herself. The room had erupted into loud laughter and excited chatter. Now that was coming out, she thought.

.

.

It didn't take long for the word to spread. By mid afternoon she had Sheryl in her office, glaring at her.

"Yes Sheryl?" Caroline knew exactly what this was about but she was going to make her say it.

"You didn't tell me." Sheryl was definitely put out by being the last to be told about this bit of gossip.

"Tell you what?" Caroline watched her carefully. She knew that how Sheryl spoke her next lines would be revealing.

"Tell me you were a lesbian?"

There was no hesitating, or whispering, or screwing up of Sheryl's face when she said this. It was looking good from Caroline's perspective.

"Nope. I didn't." Caroline leaned forward in her chair. "I told the LGBTIQ students who need the most support, who are most likely to face verbal, physical and sexual abuse for being who they are. So yes. I told them first." Caroline sat still, looking squarely at Sheryl.

Sheryl gulped. "Okay. That's fair. It's just, me brother's gay and I never would have told if you'd asked me not to."

Caroline softened, "I didn't know about your brother. But I did know that you'd have kept it secret had I wanted you to, Sheryl." Caroline paused, finessing her words, the steel showing through. "I didn't feel it was anyone's business for a while. Now it is. Coming out makes me the target, and not the students. So yes, the school community is going to have to deal with it." She had a joyful glint in her eyes when she added, "You are welcome to spread this as far and wide as you wish."

Sheryl nearly collapsed with relief. "Thank god. I've been bustin' to say something but didn't want to in case you weren't okay with it." She sat down heavily on the chair in front of Caroline's desk. "So tell me about your girlfriend."

Caroline looked at her, not quite sure how much to say at this point. "She's a farmer. She's funny; she's kind. She's strong willed." She raised her eyebrows and nodded at this, receiving a chuckle from Sheryl. "My family knows but not everyone is happy about it; very common I hear." She looked at the clock on the wall behind Sheryl. "That's enough. Back to work for both of us." She shooed Sheryl out with her hands, the smile on her face warm and sunny, revealing how she felt about this mystery farmer. When the door closed, Caroline leaned back in her chair and shut her eyes. All she really wanted to do was draw Gillian into a tight hug and breathe her in. It was a minute or two before she could bring herself back to the present and back to her work.