By: Danielle Sehnert, Contributing Writer
As a seventh-grader, Savanny Savath wrote a letter to her parents before school, confessing that she was “bi-curious”.
When she returned home, she found that their reactions were less than supportive. “If you’re still this way by eighteen, I’m going to kick you out of the house,” her mother threatened.
Her father responded by not dealing with the issue until in the ninth grade, when he took to her to see a doctor. “He explicitly asked the doctor if there was some sort of cure for me,” Savath says.
“I was terrified of being around them; I just hid in my room.”
When Savath moved to South Carolina from Pennsylvania in 2005 and entered a new school, she suffered from extensive bullying from not only her peers, but from members of the faculty and staff.
She found her fellow students questioning her sexuality and spreading cruel rumors.
“Because I lived such an isolated childhood, I had no idea that anything other than straight existed,” Savath continues, “People started telling me what it was, and I realized that maybe it was true.”
It is an understatement to say that coming out isn’t easy. It is an emotional and overwhelming process especially if one’s family and community aren’t supportive.
Many, including Savath, suffer from depression, anxiety and self-harm because of the verbal abuse they endure. They are unsure of where to turn, or where a safe haven lies.
“When I first came to Wofford, I decided not to come out to some people. If it’s going to come out, it’s going to come out. I felt comfortable with that.”
Fortunately, Savath feels that Wofford is able to provide an accepting space for those in the LGBTQ community. Participating in the Pride Parade in Spartanburg and joining Spectrum has allowed her to feel represented and supported.
Although her relationship with family has slightly improved, her father still refuses to discuss the subject and her mother does not acknowledge her as bisexual, but her strength and bravery remain untarnished.
While her journey has been more than difficult, Savath’s optimism proves that it indeed does get better.
