I grew up in a small, rural community in Idaho and entered my teen years in the late 1970s. Had it not been for the opportunity to participate in organized sports, I can honestly say I would not be alive. I struggled with the overwhelming fact that I was different than most of my peers, that I was gay, and it was all I could think about. It made me feel like an outsider and very alone, except when I was on the field or the court.

While playing sports, all the angst and depression I felt about being gay suddenly wasn’t there anymore, it was replaced with a sense of belonging, a sense of team. For those moments when I was in practice or at a game, all I thought about was sinking a jump shot of the screen or catching the football off of a post route. I belonged to a team. I had a place and I was no longer alone.

Just like on Vashon, my community had one single-screen movie theater and that was it. There were not many other options for young people to hang out and, because of that, I witnessed a number of my friends who were not involved in sports start drinking and experimenting with drugs. I can only imagine how many more would have found that as an activity if they would not have had a gym, a track or a field.

Please vote “yes” on Proposition 1. Please give kids a place to belong.

— Robin Magonegil