This post was submitted by matt

This week, Matt’ introduces himself and his column, Dispatches.

I’ve written a couple of columns so far on TNG, and I think it’s time for some introduction.

I entered the so-called blogosphere in August 2007 when I started my personal blog, Track Twenty-Nine. When I started my blog, I really wasn’t sure where the blog was going to end up, and I think Dispatches is in the same position. I started writing about transit issues over at T29 alongside posts about my personal life, but once the transit-interested readers found me, there was little choice in direction. I had found a reader base, and started catering to them. If I didn’t believe that an audience shapes one’s writing before, I certainly do now.

And that means that Dispatches, while still nebulous now, will be shaped by you and your interests. But it will also be constrained and steered by my expertise and ability.

***

I grew up in a small town in north Georgia. My town was mainly white and protestant. And it was a small enough place that everyone knows you and a good deal about you. My hometown was, for the most part, white and protestant–the kind of place where most people are in church on Sunday morning and in the high school football stadium on Friday nights. The diversity of the city was far, far away, beyond the southern horizon. Living in such a homogenous culture would make my coming out journey difficult. I didn’t even meet another out person until I was 17.

When I finally escaped, I moved to Atlanta. Never again would I consider living away from the bright lights of the city. I found the diversity enriching and refreshing. Doing community service exposed me to the problems of the inner city, and inspired me to find ways of advocating environmental justice–equity within our regions. Still, I had not made the leap of coming out–not even to myself.

During my 4 years in Atlanta, I got my BS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech. I tried to make the most of my tenure at school, including a study abroad in Germany. It was, I think, my time in Europe that was the catalyst for my coming out experience. When I returned to the United States in the Fall of 2005 I knew it would only be a matter of time before I would out myself to the world.

I did indeed come out during my junior year of college, an experience which was one of the most challenging and liberating of my life, and one which was certainly one of my most valuable experiences. For a while, being out was a very important aspect of my life, but with time that has faded. Sure, I am a gay man, but that is only a small part of my Self; something that I began to come to terms with after I made my “pilgrimage” to the Castro.

Being out didn’t change my path in college too much. I finished up my degree and prepared to move. I had decided to start the next chapter of my life in Washington, DC. I began my Master’s studies in the Urban Planning program at the University of Maryland last Fall, finally doing something I’d wanted to do my whole life. I’ve always wanted to be a transportation planner, even before I knew that it was something you could get paid to do.

***

Because my expertise is in the field of urban planning–specifically transportation planning–I sometimes find it difficult to determine a topic to write for my column. Sure, urban planning affects the gay community, but I don’t think it affects us more than any other group. Therefore I have to find a way to construct a bridge between my area of expertise and the part of me that is gay.

Writing this column has proven to be quite a challenge. Not only do I have a deadline, but I also have difficulty writing something that I think will interest TNG’s readership at large. What do you think Dispatches should become and where should it go?

Keeping in mind that I am both an urban planner and a gay man, what should the balance be? Do you value a policy discussion or personal dialogue here? What topics would you like to see covered?

I look forward to your comments. Thanks for reading.

---

First time here? See what we're all about... Get involved... Send us a tip!...

---