Acceptance Journeys

Chris & Melanie

Chris is my cousin, and when he told me things weren’t going well at home, I told him he could come and stay with me. Even though he’s younger than me, I have always…

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Venice & Marie

My sister was in the hospital, and my nephew told me, “Auntie, I want to be transgender.” I think he was expecting me to have a bad reaction, but I was fine with it….

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Chyra & Janice

About four years ago I was going through a really rough situation and Janice became my good friend. She just embraced me. She’s just like a sister to me. We fall out, hang up…

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Tiffany Covington & D’Marco

I was 12 when I found out my cousin D’Marco was gay. He was older than me; he really faced up to being gay when I was about 18. I was the one who told…

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Tejeda Family & Maria

Mom: Even when Maria was a baby—right after I had her—she never put any conditions on me. She was happy, smiling, willing to give me a hug, and very loving toward me. How could…

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Quiana, Shawnie, & Jasen

When we found out our mom was gay, we all reacted differently. Our dad had died not too much earlier, so we were all dealing with a lot. It was strange to us because…

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Miracal & Ronnie

There has never been a time when my Uncle Ronnie wasn’t there. I never had a father in my life, and he was always there for me. He is really supportive, he’s really dependable, and…

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Mike & Desmond

When my son first told me he was gay, I said, “Whatever you do I’m fine with it. It’s your life.” He’s a grown man. I have a lot of cousins who are gay and…

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Lonell & Sheila

I had some hints. Some of my make-up was missing and it ended up that Lonell had borrowed some of it, not to wear a lot of it like a girl, but maybe just…

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LG Shanklin Flowers

My sister tried coming out to me by giving me the book Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown. This is the story of a Southern girl who happens to be a lesbian. After I…

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Lettie Coley

I always grew up around gay people but I didn’t really know there was anything unique about that until I moved away and someone else pointed it out. My grandmother’s best friend was gay,…

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Lesley & Dominiquee

I’m pretty open with my kids and they know that, but when my daughter looked at another young lady and said to me, “Man, she’s fine. I would like to get with her,” I…

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