by Tim

Top, Bottom or Vers? Gay Man Defies Social Pressure and Comes Out as a Side.

I’m Tim, and I’m from Montclair, New Jersey.  I came out in three separate occasions over a summer. The first one was, “I think I might be gay.” And the sThis person accepted me as a valid gay man and it was not anything on the basis of what I did in the bedroom. That was sort of pre pandemic. And then the pandemic, I know, put kin...

by Darius McLean

How One Trans Couple Found Love During the Pandemic. “Don’t Be Afraid to Love and to Let It In.”

I am Darius McLean and I’m from Newfield, New Jersey.  About seven years ago I was working at the Mazzoni Center and the CHOP Gender Clinic. When I was working at Mazzoni CSo about six years later I was working at Einstein Hospital and just a little bit before that, Celena was made the executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, but she had be...

by Samantha

“You Will Find Your Way.” Transgender Woman’s Multi-Stop–And Ongoing–Journey to Realizing Her Identity.

My name is Samantha. I’m from Houston, Texas.  When I was in college, just kind of finishing my degree at University of Texas in Austin, I started dating this guy whom I haI went to France to effectively be a student teacher in Toulouse. It was something I wanted to do, but turned out to be way more difficult than I anticipated. I was living off a r...

by Danielle Stanziale

From Hooking Up to Happily Ever After: A Lesbian Love Story That Defied The Odds.

My name is Danielle Stanziale. I’m from Queens, New York. It was the end of summer, eight years ago, and I was sitting outside The Duplex on Christopher and Seventh Avenue. Towards the end of the summer, I’m at dinner with some friends, some very close friends, and they’re like, “What’s going on with you? You’ve been moping ...

by Shellby Forbes

Trans Nonbinary Person Thrives After Being Welcomed Back to Work with New Identity, Name, & Pronouns.

I did a lot of self-reflecting and I was able to self-identify as well as to allow myself, my inner Shellby, to come alive.I am Shellby Forbes. I am from Brooklyn, New York. So in early 2000s, I started in the finance industry working in retail banking. And during that timeframe, I started off as a teSo COVID happens, and during that timeframe I had the opportunity to work from home remote. And during this timeframe, I did a lot of self-reflecting and I was able to self-identi...

by Nick

Gay Man Reunites with Estranged Father After Seven Years. “It Takes Time But You Gotta Work at It.”

Hi, my name is Nick from Toms River, New Jersey. I was in my mid 20s living in New York City. I met a guy, I went home with him. We had a really wonderful night. We decided that wShe looked at him and she said, “If you ever talk to my nephew like that again, I will kill you. You will be out of this house. That is it.” And literally my uncle jus...

by Grey

How a Crush Saved a Queer Person’s Life. “Falling in Love was the Catalyst for Accepting Who I Am.”

Hey, so my name is Grey. I grew up in Florida.  I grew up in a church and in a family that was very conservative Christianity wise. They’re also Caribbean. There’s alSo that led me to finding community online, then finding community in person, and then coming to a place where I can accept and be proud of who I am. And that has brought me to wh...

by Justin Senense

After Coming Out to Filipino Immigrant Parents, Gay Man Learns to Stop Seeking Approval From Others.

I’m Justin Senense, and I’m from Abilene, Texas. I was raised under three pillars. I would say for a Filipino family, it was always food, then it was family, and then I think in that moment with Elizabeth, the word anak shifted for me. I recognize I was always that son. And that being gay, loving a man, being something that my parents still had...

by Daye Pope

“You’re My Child. I Want To Be There.” Iowa Mom Accompanies Daughter to Thailand for Gender-Confirming Surgery.

My name is Daye and I’m from Clear Lake, Iowa.  Growing up in the country, back home, I always knew that I was different. And I remember at one point when I was 10, actuallI couldn’t put it off any longer and I was living in Washington, DC at the time and I remember having so much nervous energy that I actually left my house and was pacing aro...