As someone who always has something to say, very few moments in my life render me speechless. Today is one of those days where I find it hard to articulate what is happening.

The stories

The pinnacle moment of this project has been the stories submitted to the site. Every single story is read slowly and carefully by our staff. No story is ignored and every story is valued.

As a human, it is our nature to feel some sort of compassion and empathy for others. The stories that have been submitted so far have honestly taken me 10 steps back. Each story has left me in awe. Last night alone, I read two powerfully written stories that left me frozen in time. When I read the stories for the first time (and two to three times more after that) I remove myself from my current situation and instead insert myself into the shoes of the story teller. Each story has done this to me, and they have all allowed me to gain a new perspective and better understanding of what others in the community have gone through.

Story Writers

They are courageous.

The individuals who took the time to share their experience not only took time out of their day to write their story, they LIVED it. The few moments it took them to write it encapsulates an entire lifetime of identity exploration and acceptance. For some, it was a journey to find self-worth where there was once none. These individuals took the time to share their experience in an effort to help someone they will likely never meet. To do that is a selfless and courageous act.

Recognition

A special thank you to my Lead Editor and lifelong friend, Ally for all that she has done. From day one of our friendship, to all she has done to help me make this project come true.

Thank you to my friend Dallas for talking to me on FaceTime back in June when the idea for this project came to mind.

Lastly, thank you to every single story writer that has sent in a story, is currently drafting one, or will write one in the future.

All of you are making the world a better place.

From the time of this posting, it has been 4,278 days since I came out. 11 years, 8 months, 19 days.

This day forever changed my life, it was the first time I ever told anyone that I was, and still very much am, gay. I remember it clearly and it was not the most ideal setting. I was a freshmen in high school and I had been talking with a really good friend on MSN instant messenger. The conversation was silly, but it went something like this:

Me: Hey, I have something I have been meaning to tell you. Promise you won't tell anyone?

Her: What's up?

Me: I have a secret

Her: Ok, what is it?

Me: Do you know that thing, the thing that everyone always says about me?

Her: No

Me: Yes you do, everyone always talks about it

Her: I know that you're a nice guy.

Me: No, hah, everyone calls me the gay kid, and I am.

I did it, I told someone. My heart was racing. I was sitting in the basement of my parents house on a really old computer we had setup to play video games on. For one reason or another, I had not been playing the Playstation. I just came out to a girl I went to high school with, we were just freshmen. We ended the conversation and I signed off of MSN, but not before sending myself the entire chat log to my old "hotmail.com" address.

The next day at school, I was sure that everyone knew my secret. There was no way that word traveled that fast in our small little town, there is no way my best friend at the time would tell everyone. Would she?

Fast forward to one random day and I was sent home with a grade mid quarter sheet. I was getting a C- in freshmen algebra. The moment I got home I had to show my mom so she could sign it and acknowledge she saw the report. Needless to say, she was not happy at all. I was told to sit at the dining room table and begin working on my algebra homework, this grade was not acceptable. My heart began to race, my palms were sweaty and my leg was shaking. Mom was furious about my grade but she was in the kitchen making dinner while dad was outside doing some yard work. It was the fall and leaves were all over our yard, I was supposed to be doing the yard work but my algebra got me out of the manual labor. Mom came over by me, still upset over my grade, and scolding me for the grade.

It slipped, it came up like word vomit.

Me: Mom, do you know Uncle Steve?

Mom: What about him!?

Me: I'm just like him.

Mom: What do you mean?

Me: I am just like Uncle Steve... I'm gay.

Mom: -silence and long pause- You think you're gay?

Me: I am gay.

Mom: Stay here, I'm going to get your father

It was a nightmare. My mom went to get my father and the three of us sat at the dining room table and discussed what had just come out of my mouth. My mom kept saying that I thought I was gay. She didn't understand how I was gay, even though I told her that "being a guy, our outward anatomy responds and it becomes very apparent what we're attracted to." This didn't go over very well. After talking about it for what seemed like hours, I was sent to my room. I didn't eat dinner, neither did mom.

The next day, Dad drove me to school. We rode in silence, it was awkward and I was afraid for what life was going to be like from this point forward. Before I got out of the car I remember what my Dad said to me, "your mother and I love you very much, Daniel."

I walked into school and passed a group of friends. They could tell something was wrong, I was pale and had the look of shock on my face. I didn't talk to them and walked away to sit in silence in the hallway.

Days passed and I don't recall eating. I know for a fact I lost 10lbs. Finally my mom started to talk to me. She told me that I had to tell my family the news, but before I could even tell them, she had already prepped them telling them that I "thought" I was gay. My brothers didn't say much, my sister told me "It's about damn time."

Whenever I think about my coming out story, I remember it being very traumatic. I lived in a small town, I had always been harassed and bullied for being the gay kid. Looking back on the experience and knowing what I know now, life was so much better once I came out. My mom was shocked, I dropped a huge bombshell on her. In her defense, she was only worried about my well-being. Her brother Steve, who I referred to earlier, died from AIDS. My mothers fear stemmed from the experience she had with her brother, a fear of losing another loved one to a horrible disease.

As time would go on, and the shock faded away, my mom became one of my biggest supporters and one of my favorite people. Now that I'm an adult, my mom and I have a really great relationship and I'm very open with her. At the time of coming out, 15 year old Daniel would have never imaged what 26 year old Daniel knows today.