Springfield, Oregon (1990)
I'm here on the left with my twin brother, Matt. I guess my experience has been different from most others, in that I didn't really realize that I was gay until probably middle school. Even then, I wasn't ready to admit it to myself or anyone else until I was a senior in high school.
When I stumbled upon this picture at my dad's house, my first thought was,
"How did you all NOT know we were gay?" Especially when we spent so much time playing Cinderella - and need I even mention my purple My Little Pony, which was my most prized and beloved gift on Christmas day in 1987?
My brother and I have been really lucky to have a supportive family and friends. And thankfully, we haven't experienced any of the nightmare scenarios you too often hear about, when people begin the process of coming out.
Maybe if we'd stayed in the Mormon church, things would be different. But we stopped attending when around 8-years old, and we haven't looked back.
Growing up, I never thought that if I came out as gay, that my mom would soon be saying to me, "You should go talk to that cute gay guy at Starbucks."
But she did. And kids, it really does get better - so hang in there!
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5 comments:
OMG! How old are y'all there. I remember one snow day I walked to your hood and you two, Andrea and I all played in the snow. We were like 9.
OMG is all I have to say. Too stinkin' cute.
oh this is lovely. I adore this post. one of my very favorites.
So both of you are gay?
Springfield is "gay friendly"??? Wow, that's saying something. I thought everything east of the Cascades was "conservative".
1990.
This is about a year after a friend of mine, a gay Mormon, died of AIDS in Springfield (I knew him in Portland, he'd gone home to die).
I'll never forget you, Jim.
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