Glenbrook North Teen Hopes to Inspire Acceptance With Song

When Glenbrook North junior Jordy Shulman gets up on stage for the high school’s variety show this weekend, he hopes he can teach the audience that it’s OK to be gay. 

Shulman will sing “Secrets” by One Republic, accompanied by a cello and piano, along with a slideshow composed of inspiring quotes and photographs from gay rights activists in America.

“No one really gets down to what it’s really about it,” he says. “I wanted to get down right to the message.” 

That message—that it’s OK to be gay—is directed especially at young people coming to high school who are still figuring out who they are, he says. 

“I just want them to not be afraid of accepting that.” 

Shulman came out at the beginning of this school year, but it took him some time to become completely comfortable, he says. He credits an open-minded community at , along with supportive family members and friends, for making the experience easier. 

“I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t have support from everyone around me,” he says. 

Glenbrook North has had a Gay Straight Alliance since 1999, and every year the school hosts a “Day of Silence” as a way of recognizing the experience of people who may feel silenced because of their sexuality, according to teacher Bill Horine, who coordinates the Gay Straight Alliance. Both the existence of the group and the annual event have helped pave the way for acceptance, Shulman says.

The climate at Glenbrook North isn’t perfect—students still use the word “gay” as a slang equivalent to “stupid”—but Shulman feels lucky to attend a school where he can be accepted and where several teachers are openly gay.    

In society at large, however, there’s still work to be done, he says. 

“A lot of people say that being gay is a choice,” he says. “I always say, why would someone choose to have a harder life?”

“No one wants to not be able to get married, no one wants to have less rights than others.” 

Among the people Shulman will be quoting in his video slideshow is Harvey Milk, the first openly gay individual to serve in public office (and the subject of the recent film with Sean Penn, Milk.) Other people quoted include Andy Warhol, Lady Gaga and Jane Lynch. 

Shulman will end the video with a reference to Dan Savage, the creator of the “It Gets Better Project,” a series of videos in which openly gay adults describe how they moved past bullying or angst associated with coming out. 

Savage was one of Shulman’s inspirations, along with the TV show Glee. 

“It’s a good way for America as a whole to see what it’s like from the perspective of a gay teen,” he says.

Taking the stage to perform  “Secrets” this weekend, Shulman says he won’t be nervous. He believes his audience will be accepting, and he’s honed the video with the help of Glenbrook North’s choir director, Andrew Wallace.

Wallace, who has known Shulman since Shulman was in eighth grade, says he’s impressed—but not surprised—with the performance.

“He’s a really strong human being,” Wallace says.

If things work out, Shulman’s dream is to become a singer one day (if not, he’s interested in being a child psychologist or a music therapist). At Glenbrook North, he participates in multiple vocal ensembles, all of which will be performing in the Variety Show. 

But his solo performance of the song “Secrets” is something special.

In part, Shulman was inspired to choose the tune because of a “beautiful” cover of the song that he watched on YouTube. But he was also inspired by the song’s message: 

“Every day I see the news, the problems that we could solve,” he says, quoting One Republic. “I’m sick of all the insinceres.”

Glenbrook North's annual Variety Show opens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night and continues with performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $13 and can be purchased in advance online or at the door of the Sheely Center for the Performing Arts.