by Dorian Woodruff

I’m Dorian Woodruff. I’m from New York City. When I was a freshman in college at a Baptist university, where there were lots of rules – there was “don’t do this, don’t...

by John Becker

My name is John Becker. I’m from Green Bay, Wisconsin. I knew I was gay long before I knew what word to attach to it. I knew that the feelings that I was feeling were directed t...

by Atu Darko

My name is Atu Darko and I’m from the Bronx, New York. I grew up in an immigrant family, in an immigrant community. So my parents are immigrants from Ghana, a small country in W...

by Neha Ghosh

My name is Neha Ghosh and I’m from Bridgewater, New Jersey. When I was very little, from the ages around maybe three to twelve, I was always the really awkward, really masculine...

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 Jason Biel

My name is Jason Biel and I’m from Lacombe, Alberta. I’m musician. I did my undergrad at a small Adventist university in Lacombe. It’s about as conservative as you can get. ...

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 ...

by Rick Stuckey

I’m Rick Stuckey from Chicago, Illinois. I’m Lutheran. I grew up Lutheran. I went to a Lutheran high school. And I always felt a little different. It was summer, it was June, ...

by Bryan Blaise

I’m Bryan Blaise from Leesburg, Florida. Back when I was 22, I went home for the holidays. At that time I had started dating someone here in Chicago and decided I was going to t...