Shining the spotlight on the LGBTQIA+ community & allies alike

• JACKSON

  I came out in 6th grade. I realized because I started to have a crush on a friend that I was close with for several years. Basically, I told my other friends, and I decided to tell him next. He was super nice, and he was supportive when I told him I was gay! I had the flu the next week, so I stayed home, and another person in our class messaged me and told me that he was telling EVERYONE. He was telling all of our grades students, which even led to the teachers listening in on the gossip O I was so fucking crushed and Idid not know how I was going to go back to school. During the whole of 6th grade, I was practicing makeup! My parents were super supportive of me and let me wear makeup inside, so I would do it every single day. I decided that the best way to just own what people were saying was to go to school in a FULL BEAT. I wore bright pink eyeshadow and did a cut crease and everything. I might've had lashes too tbh D Everyone was shocked when I walked into school that day. and so many people were nice and complimenting me. Even my teachers were saying I looked good that day, which made me feel like I was seen as who I was in public for the first time!

• KURO

  I knew I wasn't straight from an early age, but my family is a mixture of religious conservatives and people who aren't quite accepting. I had anxiety from an early age too
  and keeping a huge secret mixed with anxiety wasn't the greatest combination. Fast forward a few years and I just finished 7th grade. I had my first kiss with my girl best friend, we dated through the summer. My living situation at the time was rough, I was living with my
  grandparents who still referred to gay people using slurs. One night my sister let it slip that i was involved with someone the same gender as myself, and that same night I was out on the street. 12-year-old me not knowing what to do called my mother and came out to her too. She was accepting and the only person in my family I could really trust. I moved in with my mom and dad, my dad not knowing the truth. Over time my relationship with my father dwindled and he became dependent on various substances. He found out I liked girls when I was 14 and cut me out of his life. From that moment my mom divorced my dad due to his manipulative ways. My mom gave me room to grow and a safe place. My Grandma unfortunately didn't like this and tried to baptize into a church behind my mothers back. That luckily didn't work. I am now 4 years later living in a house with my mom and her partner (my stepmom)! We have so much pride as a family and will continue to live our truths.

• ANONYMOUS

  I texted my guy friend who I didn't know that well back then. it was totally random at like midnight. I just said "hi, I know this is so random, but I just have to tell someone. I'm bisexual. I know we aren't that close but i for some reason really trust you. I understand fi you find this weird &wants to block me or something". the response I got was one of the most genuine things I've ever read. I'm so thankful for him. we are still friends and I trust him with my life.