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Ev
"I was born on October 19, 2006, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. When I was three I got to go to daycare where I found dress-up clothes. I got to dress up as a pretty pink princess with a tiara and fancy shoes.
I started young-5 kindergarten and there I told kids that I liked “girl things”. In 1st grade Spanish class, the teacher asked us to line up with girls/chicas on one side and boys/chicos on the other. I stood in the middle of the class because I didn’t know which side to go to because I was a “tomgirl”. The teacher said I could be a chica/chico. In third grade, there was a girl who was mean to me because I liked girl things. She made me feel bad and a lot of my friends were afraid of her, so they quit being my friend. The summer between 4th and 5th grade, I was watching an Undertale video and they called the protagonist genderless. After learning what that meant, I realized that that was what I was too. I also started using they/them pronouns. On the first day of school, I wore a custom t-shirt that had he crossed out, she crossed out and they to show my pronouns. I got to tell the class that I was genderless and to call me Ev instead of Evan." -Ev |
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Kata
“Ever since I was in elementary school, all my friends and family have asked me what boys I liked. I have never felt comfortable talking about my crushes in the context of only boys. Once I got to middle school I had a few friends who started asking me about girls, and they would teach me about different labels. I started to feel more comfortable using "bi", but I still felt like it was missing something. As soon as I understood what "pan" meant, I started to use it. It felt like I could settle into it, almost like I had a home.
I have had a strange coming out journey, I feel like my family never wants to address it when I say something. I've come out to my immediate family a few times but each time it feels like I'm talking to a wall. I know they are accepting, it just might take them a while to understand that this will always be me.” -Kata |
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Sophie
"Being LGBTQ+ was a journey to me. Growing up I didn’t have any examples of what being gay looked like. I tried to convince myself to be someone I’m not purely because I had never known any other way. As I grew older and was exposed more to the outside world my eyes were opened to a love that felt much better than anything I had tried to force myself to feel before."
-Sophie |
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Tiger
“I first discovered I was trans a couple months before my 13th birthday. One day I woke up, and was immensely uncomfortable with my body--anything feminine about it repulsed me, and I couldn’t bear to look at myself. I cried because my chest wasn’t flat enough, and cried again out of joy when I finally got my first chest binder. Over the next couple years, I had a tumultuous relationship with my gender. Sometimes I hated every aspect of my body, sometimes I loved wearing clothes that accentuate my curves. I identified as genderfluid for a long time, and eventually as just non-binary. 5 years later my relationship with gender is no longer tumultuous, but harmonious. Existing outside the binary and presenting myself without the confines of gender is how I feel like my most authentic self. My message to anyone questioning their gender: it’s okay to experiment, to try things out and throw them away, to change your mind. Remember--gender is personal. It affects no one but you and you only. Do what makes YOU comfortable and happy, and never apologize for being yourself.”
-Tiger |
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Kay and Rani
“I don’t really have a coming out story. I was always just me. I never worried about labels or how people perceived me. I also never worried about trying to label others. I was and still am more concerned about how I treat people and how they treat me. I don’t understand the need to label and place people in a socially constructed box, based upon who they love. I will probably never “come out”.
Rani’s story is a bit different. She always knew she was unique. She was a tomboy and very comfortable in this role. She remembers complimenting and being attracted to her brother’s girlfriends. She knew that she was a lesbian at about the age of nine. But didn’t come out when she wanted to. She was trying to please her parents. Close friends helped her see the lie she was living. She finally came out in her mid-twenties after her step father’s death. Rani and I have been committed to each other for 25 years, married for 6 of those wonderful years.” -Kay |
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Shelby, Danielle, and Scarlett
“Coming out is an adventure of its own and it’s very different for each individual. For me, I grew up knowing nothing but love. Love for all of those who weren’t like me or my family. We never judged and accepted all. Which made it easier for me to grow up loving all different kinds of people. I love for the mind and not the bodies of individuals who match my energy. As for my partner, my fiancé, Danielle, her story is much different. She had a harder time growing up and figuring herself out. Sometimes family isn’t as accepting as you’d think they’d be. Sometimes they never fully accept it. This world is mysterious though and life eventually led us together. Through a mutual friend, the moment I saw her photo, I just knew. Her past was rocky, and so was mine but now it’s been 878 days, almost three years, that we’ve spent loving, learning and growing together. It's like living with Déjà vu when with her. Loving her just feels right.”
-Shelby |
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