by Parker Haines

My name is Parker Haines and I’m from Chicago, Illinois. When I was 22, I was sitting in a Friday’s restaurant with my mother. And I had just recently moved to Minneapolis, Mi...

by Angele Cooper

Coming out, I was just so much more stronger. Now I rep my queerness. I’m like, “Yeah!”My name’s Angele Cooper. I’m from Los Angeles, California. When I was 25 years old, I had just got out of a really bad breakup. I was going through a lot of depression and dea...

by Michael Dain

1960s: A Trip To The Met Was “The First Time I Remember Any Attraction For Men.” I first became aware of being attracted to men when growing up in the mid-sixties, when I was1970s: Melba Moore Performing At Bathhouse Changes Gay Teen’s Life. Okay, so in the early seventies when I was around 15 and attending Bronx High School of Science, still feeliComing Out To Parents In 1975: “You’re Our Son. We Love You. Be Home By Midnight.” Okay, so around in 1975, just a little before I turned 18, I was talking with my brother.1981: After Protest At Harvard, “I Was Out For All The World To See.” After high school, I took some time off because at the time I didn’t think I wanted to go to college. 1985: “Heartbreak Is A Natural Part of Relationships.” Here I am in Boston in 1985. After taking a hiatus from Divinity School, I had resumed taking classes again and I met mFear Surrounding AIDS In The 80s: “I Might Have Already Been Infected. I Didn’t Know.” I started hearing about AIDS or as it was called in the press at that point, Gay Rela...

by Ted Chapin

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 a1970s: Embracing Interracial Gay Love. “This Is Just A Great Big Family. Let’s Drop All The Prejudice.” Jacob and I moved to Philadelphia in 1972 because I was starting th1978: Celebrating Thanksgiving With Family Of Choice. “They Wanted To Welcome Me To Their World.” Well, I came out in 1970 in New Haven in the year after Stonewall. And the wReceiving A False-Positive HIV Test In The Mid-1980s: “I Thought This Could Be It.” Eric and I got to San Francisco in 1978. It wasn’t a good place to bring a boyfriend bec1988: “God, If You’re There, Please…I Need To Fall In Love With Someone Who’s Not Going To Die.” Well, it was April, 1988. I was living in San Francisco. There I was, a1990s: Following Societal Progress Gay Man Has To Learn “How To Be A Spouse Of A Gay Executive.” We were living in San Francisco. It was in 1993 that we had to move to Boston2000s: A Civil Union In Vermont And A Marriage In Massachusetts. “We Celebrate The Day We Met.” Well, Torrence and I moved to Boston in 1993. We were part of that South End g...

by Sheila Bligen

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 fourLate 1950s: Neighborhood Crush: “She Was The Sexiest Thing I Had Ever Seen.” Okay, so in the late fifties, we – the big migration – so we moved from the Lower East Side t1960s: First Kiss With Another Girl Was “The Kiss Of Life.” So I’m 17. I’m living in Spanish Harlem and I’m venturing out to Harlem at this point. So Diane becomes one “I Learned How A Broken Heart Actually Feels.” So now I’m 17. I’m a senior in high school. I start to venture out. So I’ve become friends with Diane. Her house was a coFalling In Love, Breaking Up, And Reuniting: “Every Day Was The Best, Best, Best, Best Day Ever.” From my twenties into my thirties, I’m dealing with men and I’m living mOn Being Called An “Elder”: “I’m A Human Being. I’m Sheila. End Of Story.” I’m 67. And if I have to be put in put in a box, I embrace the term queer. But, I don’t...

by David R. Matteson

“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 count1950: “That Was The First Time I’d Had Sex With Another Guy.” When I was 12, which would have been about 1950, I made my trip to my grandparents’ farm. Each of my brother1960’s: Man Has Sex Dream About His Male Psychiatrist And Then Tells Him About It. My PhD program at Boston University was in a mixture of psychology and pastoral counseling. T1973: Man’s First Visit To Gay Bar Results In Life-Changing Experience. In 1973, I was – I had finished about five years of teaching at a small liberal arts college in southeComing Out As Bisexual In The 1970’s. In the mid seventies, I took a faculty friend with me to a trip to Gestalt Institute in Cleveland. On the way back, I realized how much I Bisexual Husband And His Wife Renegotiate Relationship. When my wife and I were married, I assumed I was heterosexual. And it wasn’t till many years later that I realized I wasBisexual Man Reflects On His Open Marriage, Wife, And Long-Term Relationship With A Man. Sandy and I had been married since 1962. I had worked out a bisexual agreement when I rea...

by Ladislao Loera

My name is Ladislao Loera and I’m from Houston, Texas. I had been with my partner for about eighteen years. The last four years, he was fighting a terminal and rare cancer. He h...

by Lester Mayers

painting by Patrick Stelien Growing up in Brooklyn and Harlem from early 2009 till late 2015, I was fortunate enough to have a small group of friends who were like-minded and had ...

by Brook Umbrell

My name is Brook Umbrell and I’m from Toledo, Ohio. In 2014, I decided that was going to be my Summer of Yes. A good friend of mine was doing a queer calendar at the time. She&#...