by George Agundez

My name is George Agundez. I am from Calexico, California. Growing up, you know, I used to go to church and I would enjoy going to church. But there was always that time where I w...

by Jeff Perla

Hey, I’m Jeff Perla. I’m from Syracuse, New York. So, as every typical Italian-American knows, you go to your grandma’s house. Sundays, Wednesdays, whole family’s there �...

by Richard Wandel

“What Was It Like? Stories by LGBTQ Elders” is a new program by I’m From Driftwood, in partnership with Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, and SAGE, the count“1960s: In Retrospect, I Think Of Him As My First Love.” I had this friend in in high school. He was clearly my best friend. We didn’t use words like that necessarily, but hKicked Out Of Monastery in 1969: “They Noticed My Homosexuality Before I Did.” So I’d been, all together, I was in the monastery for six years. From the time I graduated higFirst Meaningful Sexual Experience As An Adult: “I Knew That Meant I Was Gay.” So in 1969, after having been in a monastery for six years, I left. And I returned first brieflyFollowing Gay Man’s First Protest In 1970: “I Knew Where My Place Was.” It was in the summer of probably 1970. I had recently, the fall before, left the monastery that I hadProtest At Radio City Music Hall: “There’s A Great Deal Of Fun In Standing Up For Yourself.” It must’ve been about 19, probably 71, maybe 70. I’m bad at dates but in thaOne Week As A Gay Activist in 1971: Rejection, Assault, and Gunshots. If you want to have an idea of what it was like even in New York City or New York State in the early seventieFollowing The Funeral Of A Gay Friend: “I Left That Church Promising Myself Never To Go Back In.” So after being a gay activist in New York City for about five years – so ro...

by Maria Triads

The Resource Partner for today’s story is interACT, a nonprofit that uses innovative legal and other strategies to advocate for the human rights of children born with intersex ...

by Tolga

My name is Tolga and I’m from Malatya, Turkey. It’s a small, conservative town and we are all raised conservative as well. I remember every time I was going to school, some of...

by Richard Eric Weigle

“What Was It Like? Stories by LGBTQ Elders” is a new program by I’m From Driftwood, in partnership with Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, and SAGE, the count1967: “From That Moment On, I Never Had One Moment Of Guilt About Being Gay.” The year was 1967. The war in Vietnam was raging. I just graduated from college and I was lucky 1970 Greenwich Village: “I Felt Like I Had Really Found Heaven.” In 1970, after a long stint in the Peace Corps and traveling back through many, many countries, I arrived bacPre-AIDS Greenwich Village: A Time Of “Free Love, Open Sex And Tolerance.” I feel very fortunate to have lived in Greenwich Village in the 70s, pre-AIDS. t was a wonderful t9th Grade English Teacher Rescues Former Student From Sexual Mishap. In the 1980s, I was teaching in New Jersey, commuting out from Grove Street, from Greenwich Village, and I ha1985: Rock Hudson’s Death Hurls AIDS Into Public Consciousness. In the early 80s, it was still a wonderful time because it seemed like everybody was curious about gay life. Peo“It’s Just Incredible To Think Of What We Lost [To AIDS].” The late 80s and early 90s was a sad time for many gay men. There was, there were a lot of people dying. I lost mLife After Fifty As A Gay Man. Life after 50 as a gay man. Well… you know, I have always been lucky in meeting people on the street. Whether I had my dogs or a grocery bag or a...

by Alan Conter

I’m Alan Conter and I’m from Montreal. In 1972, when I was 17, I was a student at McGill University and unsure of my sexuality. One day, I went to an audition for a play calle...

by Jamie Brickhouse

Jamie Brickhouse is the author of Dangerous When Wet: A Memoir of Booze, Sex, and My Mother. TRANSCRIPT: I’m Jamie Brickhouse. I’m from Beaumont, Texas. When I was in college...

by Edward Lemay

“What Was It Like? Stories by LGBTQ Elders” is a new program by I’m From Driftwood, in partnership with Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, and SAGE, the count1961: “I Couldn’t Bring Myself To Write The Word ‘Homosexual.’” The year is 1961. I had just graduated from high school and I was on my way to St. John’s University, w1962: Falling In Love With A Fellow Classmate In Seminary School. I was born in 1943, and this happened when I was a sophomore at St. John’s, so 1962. At St. John’s and in manHomework Assignment: “Go To A Singles Bar And Pick Up Women.” This was in 1962 or 63. I’m a student at St John’s and St John’s was known as “The College Behind the PinSabotaging Relationships With Women: “I Think My Subconscious Kicked In.” I had been trying to change my sexual orientation. I’d been trying to be straight and so much of meVisiting A Gay Bathhouse: “It Was A Great First Time.” I had been in therapy to become a straight person, and part of the therapy was to date women. I found, actually, a very,“I Was Very, Very Fortunate In The Sixties That My Parents Were So Accepting.” It was the late Sixties. I was visiting my parents in Minnesota and, fortunately, there was an a“Luke Will Always Be Just A Very, Very Incredible Person In My Life.” So it was the late Seventies I was living on Devisadero and saw this ad in a San Francisco gay newspaper ...