Jasmin Roy
An excerpt from An autobiography of Jasmin Roy
An excerpt from An autobiography of Jasmin Roy, Les Éditions des Intouchables, Montreal 2010, in French.
Jasmin Roy eventually found a fulfilling career in the performing arts, after a horrible youth in which he endured years of bullying and the tacit participation of adults and educators. They exacerbated his persecution through their own ignorance and silence, or even by joining in the laughter of oppressor youth, and finally in their trivialization of his youthful burdens. He writes of the slow and faithful friendships and long therapy which lifted him from near suicidal anxiety and self-deprecation. This brief excerpt makes a poignant appeal against ignorance which breeds oppression, and underlines the complexity of human relations and personality that cannot be reduced to sexual orientation alone.