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 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 Ron Malott

My name is Ron Malott and I’m from Kyle, Texas. So being from a big family and there being so many of us, I guess because my twin brother and I were sort of special and in the m...

by Dave White

My name is Dave White, I’m a writer and I live in Los Angeles. I grew up in southeastern New Mexico. When I was 17 years old in 1982 my family was living in a little town called...

by Eric Pitsenbarger

I remember walking home from Scott’s little house in the bright early morning feeling triumphant, jubilant! Finally I knew! I knew and was ecstatic! In my seventeen years of dou...

In the backyard of my childhood home, there stood an elevated hut that my father had built for us to play in as children. It was a marvelous structure and provided us and our frie...

by Tim Stapleton

“May I go outside in the yard?” I asked, interrupting the conversation. “Sure,” said the man. “Make yourself at home.” It’s been nearly forty years, I thought. Is th...

by Rod Wright

I swear the waitress worked there since the buffalo roamed freely. I had disliked her since we moved to Killdeer a few years earlier. I was in shock over the little town and just ...

by Chuck Zito

“I’d like to audition, please.” It was his voice that did it; the sound of it, setting a pattern for a lifetime’s infatuation with pitch and timber. It was deep and resona...