I'm From Driftwood
The stories on I’m From Driftwood send a simple but powerful message to LGBTQIA+ people everywhere: You are not alone. I’m From Driftwood combats isolation and creates empathy to build a more understanding and accepting world. These are our stories, told in our own voices.
Latest Collections Stories
I’m From Malott, WA.
I’ve always been an outcast, always been a freak. I’ve never been popular in my school. And I’ve always been taught that anything but straight is wrong. But a big part of me ...
I’m From Aurora, CO.
I had known about sex and sexuality from a young age. I had always been curious about it. I was mature for my age, and I had always been open when sexuality came about. My parents ...
I’m From Portland, OR.
Momma loved pretty. She kept all her pretty locked up in a turquoise travel case that she hid in the back of her closet. I remember being about five (or maybe six) years old and si...
I’m From Brooklyn, NY.
Growing up in a religious Christian household hearing how “gays are going to hell in a hand basket” isn’t easy. Especially when you know in your heart of hearts that you are ...
“Dean…your boys want to know if Richard’s your lover.”
Dean Ostrum was married to a woman and had four kids when he met the man he would fall in love with and later marry. Dean explains: There was no secret about [Richard] being a ver...
I’m From Strasburg, ND.
I’m from Strasburg, North Dakota, hometown of Lawrence Welk. They played polka at my senior prom. A very homogenous, provincial, rural backwater of a place. I got picked on as a ...
I’m From Kewanee, IL.
Like most people, coming out to myself, parents and friends was all at once painful, wonderful, and liberating. I’m lucky to look back on it now and be thankful that I have a g...
I’m From Exeter, NH.
By my junior year at boarding school, I was co-head of my Gay Straight Alliance. I felt the pressure and anxiety of having to continue the charade of liking girls, while leading th...
I’m From Burlington, VT.
“When did you realize you were a man?” I’m disappointed when he asks me this at the bar because it betrays his unknowing. It seems like every time I open up to someone, I ine...
I’m From Plymouth, MA.
I never believed in love. I never wanted to get married. I always told myself and came to accept that I was going to fall in love and marry my work and career; I was going to find ...
Gay Airman Randy Phillips Wants His Generation To Talk About AIDS.
This week, guest videographer and editor Matthew Ladensack and I are accompanying the more than 2700 riders and volunteers of the AIDS LifeCycle and collecting their stories. If ...
I’m From Astoria, NY.
I was born a male but decidedly so, I was born a female mentally. It has been a terrible dichotomy for me to live. I am 6’8″ tall and weigh 300 pounds. It is a trial both menta...
