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Name: Kelsey Age: 22 County of Residence: Elk County, formerly Jefferson County Pronouns: Her or she How do you describe your identity? I’m a white lesbian Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I came out to my mom when I was 12. I had a signature on […]
Name: Bobbi Jo Age: 63 County of Residence: Indiana, formerly Butler County Pronouns: she/her How do you describe your identity? Female lesbian. I’ve always been attracted to women. Transgender. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? It happened while I was in a substance recovery program in Indiana. I am […]
What motivated you to take part in this project? I love surveys. I love when marginalized people are asked to share their stories. I love reading all the stories and remembering how diverse this world is. I love being a part of something bigger than myself.
Name: Chrissy Costa Age: 40 County of Residence: Allegheny County, formerly Chicago Pronouns: She/Her How do you describe your identity? Lesbian Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? When I accepted my sexuality I sought a therapist to help me come out to my family. I had become distant […]
Are there issues impacting your LGBTQ neighbors that aren’t visible or part of the local dialogue?
I think everyone is affected by our education system. We need to be taught compassion and understanding for marginalized communities. So often the narratives of people of color and people in the LGBTQ community are either not told or not given the equal space of white narratives. It is easy to see people that are seemingly different from you as “others” when you are not exposed to their stories, their kindness, their humanity while growing up and come to the realization that their narrative is our collective human narrative.
Today is the day we celebrate the lesbians in our lives – Lesbian Visibility Day. According to Wikipedia. I’ve been diligently trying to track down other sources for this so-called visibility day that started in 2008, but I’ve had little in the way of luck. Google seems to indicate it has not been ‘a thing’ […]
Name: Marcia Age: 58 County of Residence: Allegheny, Pronouns: she, her How do you describe your identity? Cisgender, lesbian, slightly gender nonconfroming Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? My coming out was extremely difficult due to my strong religious upbringing which to this day has created barriers between me and my […]
Name: Wendi Age: 31 County of Residence: Allegheny, formerly Erie Pronouns: Mrs, Her How do you describe your identity? Ummm. I am a lesbian woman. I am white Italian. Wink* Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I officially came out at 16 to my parents after my dad had seen […]
I came out to my mom when I was 16. She is a compassionate and reasonably progressive person but I come from a fundamentalist Christian family. I really didn’t know how it would go.
I wrote out what I planned to say and rehearsed my rebuttals. When I finally got up the nerve all of those words drained from my mind and I simply said, “I’m gay. ” My mom responded just as simply with, “I know.”
I won’t say I didn’t run into any challenges as an openly gay high school student or since (coming out is constant) but I have the benefit of an extremely supportive family, church community, and group of friends. That gives me a lot of strength when folks aren’t so kind.
What motivated you to take part in this project? Part of wanting increased visibility for your community is being more visible yourself. When the plea was posted in the LGBTQ Community of Pittsburgh Facebook group I felt it was my responsibility as a member of this community to contribute my voice. Plus, I love talking about myself. 😉
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