This was the 1980s, and there was nary a gay role model on the horizon: Melissa Etheridge and K.D. Bush winning straw polls and Jim Florio considered by a majority to be a liberal, evildoer governor. Because at Millburn High School in 1989, 'queer' was far from a friendly epithet.Īs far as we knew, there were no gay kids at Millburn High School. But you certainly wouldn't have said so back then.
Today, in the era of 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,' and 'Will & Grace,' you might say that David had a queer aesthetic - good taste, an eye for new trends. He was smart and funny in a meticulous and offbeat way. He would cut out designs from construction paper and frame the song titles, making art that enhanced the 10,000 Maniacs or Julia Fordham tape you had just received. He made mix-tapes with music you might not yet know.
He wrote long loopy notes to friends and passed them off in the hallways, lines upon lines of erudition written in a tiny but consistent hand. He read Anne Tyler novels and was in love with Anna Quindlen. When I first met David Levithan, he was the editor of my suburban New Jersey high school newspaper.
