“I was taught that only women and men were meant to be in holy matrimony, and same sex marriage is a sin. I was raised to be homophobic, but I will raise my kids to love everyone. If I’m going to inspire change, I have to start with myself.”
‘I saw with my own two eyes, gay little boys almost beaten to death. I was young and accepted the church’s truth as my own.’: Man raised homophobic says ‘God taught me to love everyone, and I will do just that’
‘Too bad she’s gay!’ I was just a freak, or ‘the attention seeking weirdo.’: Vet survives abuse, depression, ‘I am not broken’
“I drank A LOT. I lost weight, bleached my hair, got tattoos, and tried to become a whole different person. I have a lot of ‘labels.’ But I am not disorderly. I am not broken.”
‘Will anyone love me after I transition?’ I knew all along who I was, I just didn’t know where I belonged in the world.’: Queer, non-binary, trans person comes to terms with identity, urges ‘you’re never alone’
“During the first appointment to assess my eligibility for hormones…I lied. A lot. I told elaborate tales about how I had ‘always dreamed of being a man.’ I worried I was a poor representation of the trans community. No one would suggest a woman who had a double mastectomy is no longer a woman because she lacks breasts.”
‘I’ve been seeing a boy for a year.’ I wasn’t changing. My family was going to be disappointed. We are Catholic.’: Gay twin brothers come out to parents, ’We struggled with the fact we could lose family for being who we are.’
“‘Do you have any crushes on girls in your class?’ It was hard to get away with answering ‘no.’ I thought of sending myself to conversion therapy. We couldn’t understand why we weren’t sexually attracted to women. Having this picture embedded in our heads of a hyper-masculine culture messed us up. We knew sooner or later something, or someone, would have to give.”
‘I’m bisexual.’ My husband looked at me. ‘Yeah, I figured.’ I laughed. ‘Was it that obvious?’ He smiled. ‘I could guess.’: Couple realizes their mixed-orientation marriage has given them more ‘love, acceptance, intimacy’ than many couples
“When my husband and I got married, he thought he was marrying a heterosexual woman. I thought that, too. ‘Is this weirding you out?’ I had a streak of fear. I ordered my first chest binder, a vest, and slacks. My husband saw me trying it on in our bedroom. ‘Oh cool, you remembered to leave the bottom button of the vest undone!’ He exclaimed. ‘Can I borrow the tie you wore at our wedding?’ He helped me tie the tie. ‘You look good,’ he winked. That night, he helped me buzz my hair.”
‘There is no turning back. But are you kidding yourself?! Is this sustainable?’: Gay man marries ‘close friend,’ comes out to her years later, now happily lives in mixed-orientation marriage
“I knew my same sex attractions were not going away. I knew I was hurting myself. I knew I was hurting Aleesha and the kids. But it continued to be a secret. I never got caught. Until I came clean. I bawled. ‘So what now? Do you want me to leave?’ We were both sitting there crying, holding each other for dear life. I was surprised to hear, ‘No, never. You are my best friend. I need you to stay. We will figure it out.’ I expected to be kicked out. Yelled at. But none of that happened. I was shown love.”
‘Those poor girls. Gays shouldn’t be able to have children. You are going to hell.’: Gay dad ‘hurt’ by attacks on social media, urges LGBT youth ‘Don’t give up. Life WILL get better.’
“I remember lying in bed at night as a little boy, begging God to not let me be gay. Every single night I’d end my prayers with, ‘God, please don’t let me have nightmares, and please don’t let me be gay.’ My dad would call me a sissy and say, ‘Don’t act like a queer.’ When I finally came out, I was so scared. Her reaction was so matter-of-fact. ‘It’s no big deal!'”
‘I plan to finally tell my homophobic parents I’m gay and transgender. By that time, they can’t do anything about it!’
“I asked him if he would come to the hideout so we could talk. No adult knew about it. He met me there, and I told him I was gay. ‘I don’t want to date a guy, that’s disgusting!’ I was devastated.”
‘I came out during my valedictorian speech. For years, I kept my secret hidden until it ate away at my conscience. I cut everyone off, paranoid they’d notice.’
“I was taught that men do not cry, so all of my emotions were kept inside. When the day came, I was extremely nervous. I changed my mind over 15 times. I was sweating and told myself I couldn’t do it. But I knew I had to.”
‘In the blink of an eye, we traded our passion for the typical American dream. The house, the yard, the white picket fence. We fell in step with everyone around us. Then, something changed.’
“Her name was Codi. She was the rainbow we didn’t know we were missing. We were done waiting for the kids to grow up, waiting for the house to be paid off. So, we put it on the market, bought the RV we always wanted, and sold absolutely everything. Our hearts and family grew a little bigger.”
