“‘YOU made her this way!’ Dempsey had a strong interest in princesses and sparkly trinkets. She’d put fashion pajama pants on her head to simulate long hair.”

‘She said, ‘I am a girl in my heart and brain.’ She had to be physically restrained for haircuts. I felt guilty.’: Mom advocates for transgender daughter, ‘She blossomed before our eyes’

‘What do we do now?!’ We NEVER thought kids would be in the cards, but here we were with TWINS!’: LGBTQ couple inspired to become parents after mom’s passing, have twins through surrogacy
“I got a text on our honeymoon: ‘You should call Mom.’ My heart started to pound. She made us realize it was time to start a family. We never thought we’d see the day we’d want CHILDREN, let alone TWO!”

‘Are you not attracted to me?’ No, not like that. Romantically, yes, I still had feelings for my partner.’: Asexual person urges, ‘We exist, we are human, and we are beautiful’
“I just didn’t want sex. I told my partner, ‘I think I’m greysexual.’ I explained what it meant and…they did not get it.”

‘Dad repeated, ‘I put it in his hands!’ How could he have given his son lethal narcotics? I was frozen in shock.’: Man recounts brother’s overdose, homophobia, ‘Learn from your hardships’
“My father would call me ‘sissy’ and ‘mama’s boy,’ and it hurt. A lot. Words like these never leave you. But it forced me to rise up.”

‘WTF just happened?’ I ran to my best friend’s dorm, a complete mess. ‘Oh my God… I think I have a crush on Sumaya!’: Bisexual woman finds soulmate, ‘We’re exactly where we’re meant to be’
“I knew full-well my sexuality wasn’t a phase, but I still assumed I’d end up with a man. Little did I know, the love of my life was waiting for me where I least expected her to be. ‘Will you go on a date with me?’ I’d given up on finding a soulmate. She was miles out of my league 一 the most perfect person alive. I was freaking terrified.”

‘I want to be a girl, Mom! Just make me a girl!’ Getting into the shower, she threw her fists down in anger. I could feel the air suck right out of me.’: Couple throw second gender reveal party for transgender daughter
“I threw open the bathroom door in tears. ‘Our son just asked us to make him a girl.’ My husband looked like a deer caught in headlights as he sat there silently processing what he heard. I knew right then we needed help.”

‘A friend broke up with him after he was outed to her as trans.’: Mom of 11-year-old trans son shares ‘frightening’ story
“The child’s parent who dropped her off chastised me (out of earshot of the kids) for having a pride flag outside my house and asked me to ‘not talk about inappropriate matters with his daughter.’ My heart literally couldn’t handle it.”

‘Driving up to the school, I was overcome with emotions. It’s finally over. What now?’: Mom reminds us to ‘salute our children for their hard work. This hasn’t been easy on them either’
“Strangely enough, I felt a bit of grief this thing we had between the two of us was gone. I looked at my sweet, tender-hearted daughter and I felt so very proud of her. She had been through so much. She did it.”

‘The wedding was canceled. He was on the couch, moping. ‘Have you planned anything special for the day?’: Couple surprised after canceled wedding, ‘We will forever remember this as the day they got hitched!’
“He said, ‘A bunch of random a-holes are honking their horns in the parking lot.’ I shrugged, ‘Maybe you should go check it out.’ As he stepped out, he began to cry.”

‘Tell me about when you CAME OUT.’ We left the interviews feeling a sense of ‘otherness.’ ‘Why does that even matter?’: LGBT couple adopt medically-complex baby boy from NICU
“I was at lunch with friends when my phone rang. I didn’t pull it out of my coat pocket. Soon, I got this overwhelming feeling to check it. My heart literally stopped. ‘It’s the adoption agency.’ I could barely get the words out. Both my friends yelled, ‘IS IT A BABY?!’ I rushed outside. There was a 2-pound baby born 3 months early. ‘He’s not breathing.’ We were presented a long list of medical issues. ‘Are we ready? Can we even do this?!’ We decided to let fate take over.”