A young man in rural Idaho was holding on to a secret. One weekend, something changed

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/09/ [login to see] /good-news-idaho-friendship
Chewey Clinton grew up on a ranch in rural Idaho. As a teenager, he was a typical small-town kid, working at a hardware store and going hunting with his friends.

But he was also holding on to a secret that he felt made him different from everyone else: He was gay. He hadn't told anyone the truth, even his closest friend, a classmate named Spencer.

"He was my best friend in high school for a number of years," Clinton said. "We liked to listen to punk rock together, play video games. He was good to talk to. He was a really wonderful guy."

One weekend during Clinton's senior year, his parents went out of town, so he decided to throw his first-ever party. A bunch of his classmates and friends came over, including Spencer.

"Spencer and I were hanging out, and he had been drinking and, you know, having problems with his girlfriend at the time," Clinton recalls. "And he was frustrated and upset, and he wanted to go home."