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 Sexuality Stories

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Gay Woman Learns To Love Her Body. “I Gave Myself Permission To Redefine My Life And Who I Am.”

by Raven

Gay Woman Learns To Love Her Body. “I Gave Myself Permission To Redefine My Life And Who I Am.”

My name is Raven. I’m from Brooklyn, New York. My freshman year of high school, I went to a school that was pretty gay. So when I moved to North Carolina my second year, my sopho...

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Queer Woman Shares Coming Out Story In Front Of Hundreds Of People – Including Her Mother.

by Día Bùi

Queer Woman Shares Coming Out Story In Front Of Hundreds Of People – Including Her Mother.

My name is Día Bùi. I am a queer Vietnamese Buddhist and I live in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, New York. On my twenty-sixth birthday, which I share with my father, my family went out to ...

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How A Gay Man’s School Project Helped Mend Relationship With Parents. “They Respected Me. That’s All I Cared About.”

by Angel Olvera

How A Gay Man’s School Project Helped Mend Relationship With Parents. “They Respected Me. That’s All I Cared About.”

My name is Angel Olvera and I’m from Los Angeles, California. I’m from a very conservative desert part of Los Angeles, about an hour north of downtown. So I grew up in the dese...

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“Maybe I Am A Tatted-Up, Crazy Witch Lesbian Slut And Maybe I Just Need To Go Be That Person.”

by Autumn

“Maybe I Am A Tatted-Up, Crazy Witch Lesbian Slut And Maybe I Just Need To Go Be That Person.”

My name is Autumn and I’m from Brooklyn, New York. I grew up in a small cabin, Swiss Family Robinson-style treehouse type situation that my dad built in the middle of a state for...

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Finding Love While Living Through The AIDS Epidemic.

by Ted Chapin

Finding Love While Living Through The AIDS Epidemic.

Coming Out To Parents in the 1970s Wasn’t Easy But “Time Heals All.” Every every gay man knows at some point in their childhood, certainly by puberty, that – what their at...

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Falling In Love, Breaking Up, And Reuniting: “Every Day Was The Best, Best, Best, Best Day Ever.”

by Sheila Bligen

Falling In Love, Breaking Up, And Reuniting: “Every Day Was The Best, Best, Best, Best Day Ever.”

1950s: Experience During Naptime: “It Was An Inkling Of A Difference.” So being a native New Yorker, I started my early childhood education on the Lower East Side. I was four ...

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How A Lesbian’s Religious Mother Went From Disowning Her To Fully Embracing Her.

by Estefanie Lliguichuzca

How A Lesbian’s Religious Mother Went From Disowning Her To Fully Embracing Her.

My name is a Estefanie Lliguichuzca. I’m from Astoria, Queens. It’s Christmas break 2008. I’m coming home back from college and I invite a friend who I had a lot of feelings ...

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From Open Relationship To Polyamorous Marriage: “Sometimes You Think You Know What You Want. And Then You Get Something Else.”

by June

From Open Relationship To Polyamorous Marriage: “Sometimes You Think You Know What You Want. And Then You Get Something Else.”

My name is June. I’m from Houston, Texas. At the beginning of 2018, I was in a relationship. It was a longer term relationship than I had ever been in. And he and I learned a lot...

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Gay Veteran Reflects On Life In And Out Of The Navy.

by Jim Darby

Gay Veteran Reflects On Life In And Out Of The Navy.

1950s: Sailor Spends A Night In Jail After Gay Bar Is Raided. In 1952, I received what we call the SSS, Selected Service System envelope. Every young man who got one of those, of ...

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After Disappointing Coming Out Experience, Queer Person Seeks Family Of Choice.

by Jessica

After Disappointing Coming Out Experience, Queer Person Seeks Family Of Choice.

Hi. My name is Jessica and I’m from Boston, Massachusetts. I grew up in a large Vietnamese-American family – of immigrants, actually. And growing up, we were the only one that ...

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Gay Man’s Journey From Bathhouse Towel Boy To AIDS Activist.

by Jay Blotcher

Gay Man’s Journey From Bathhouse Towel Boy To AIDS Activist.

1970: Gay 10-Year-Old Boy Finds Creative Way To Convince Mom To Buy Teen Magazines Well, I grew up in a small town called Randolph, Massachusetts, which is about 15 miles south of...

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Gay Pop Star On Coming Out: “I Couldn’t Have Become A Real Artist Until I Learned To Accept Myself.”

by Ari Gold

Gay Pop Star On Coming Out: “I Couldn’t Have Become A Real Artist Until I Learned To Accept Myself.”

My name is Ari Gold and I am from the Bronx. When I was a child, I was obsessed with Annie. I had an Annie doll. I must’ve somehow convinced my parents to get me an Annie doll. B...

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