Results for "New York City"

Trans Man Thought He Had It All—Until He Found His True Self
I am Criss Christoff Smith. I grew up on a farm in Jamaica. When I was about six years old, I was on my grandmother’s farm playing with my older brother. My grandmotherAfter I migrated to the United States, I lived in Brooklyn, New York with my mother, and my mother was very, very strict with us. Living in Jamaica, I was so free. I had so much f...

The Trans Woman Behind the NYC Subway Announcements
My name is Bernie Wagenblast. I’m from Cranford, New Jersey. I was four years old. I recall being at my grandmother’s house, sitting in front of her vanity, putting And one of the things that I had come across online was a new app that had come out called Face App. You could upload a photo of yourself and you would be able to see how you look...

“Um, But…Why?” Nonbinary Person Navigates Questions After Coming Out
I’m Aria Renee Curameng and I’m from Fort Washington, Maryland. Back in, I want to say 2021, I went out with a friend of mine and we constantly went to piano barsAnd it’s 2023, and it’s just rehearsals in January. One day we… we’re on break, and we’re having lunch. There’s about four of us in the ensemble, s...

Chosen Family Saved Me: Bisexual Woman Finds Saving Grace During Pandemic
My name is Ambika Nair. I am from Plainsboro, New Jersey. I grew up in a conservative South Asian family. I only really realized that I was bisexual once I graduated high schoolI just smiled and nodded and said, “Yeah, okay.” This topic of having a husband would come up in small and subtle ways, and every time it did, it would just continue to weigh ...

Gay Man Reconnects with Family After Overcoming Shame and Learning to Live Authentically
Hey, I’m Chauncey Dandridge. I’m from Harrison, New Jersey. My family was very macho. There was always sports on the television. I’m one of three boys, grew upSo I had already been a club kid, partying, doing ecstasy, doing this and that, but I think right after 9/11 is when I picked up doing crystal, crystal meth. I would use it to hav...

Gender-Affirming Care Leads Trans Woman From Sex Work & Prison to Motherhood, Marriage, and a Career
I’m Tabytha Gonzalez, pronouns she and her, and I’m from Newark, New Jersey. I first came to New York City. I was with my dance crew, or a dance crew that I was a pa...

Gay Aunt Becomes Queer Person’s Beacon of Hope Amid Homophobic Family
My name is Kirsten and I’m from Queens, New York. So when I was growing up, me and my aunt, my mother’s sister, were very close. There was an intensity to that closeAnd I had been suspecting at that point for years that she was, so I finally just asked her, “Are you queer?” I didn’t say, “Are you queer?” I was li...

Shirtless Trans Man on a Beach Changes Stranger’s Life. “It is Super Important to See Our Marks.”
My name is Terrence Francois. I’m from Brooklyn, New York, also known as Indigenous Land of the Lenape people. So it’s 2021. We’re a year into the pandemic. The And they’re just cheesing. They’re like, “¿Como esta?” That’s I think all I got. And I was like, “I’m good. How are you?” And I th...

Hate Hits Home: How One Queer Couple’s Lives Were Upended By the 2016 Election.
My name is Jovier Sanchez and I’m from New York, New York. So I moved to Salem with my husband in 2015. We opened a candle store there and it was on the first floor of theI want to say within a week and a half to two, and it was that dramatic, the drop-off for the business that we were initially getting was almost… like, it was night and day. We ...