“One of my best friends growing up was gay. ... It’s never been an issue for me. ... I think there was a time in my life, probably in college, that I wished every guy was gay, because it just meant more women for me! ‘I don’t know why you guys have a problem with this thing! I think it’d be great! I wish everyone was gay!’ ... That’s always the way I thought about it. ... I have no issue with it. If I have to suffer through marriage, why shouldn’t they?” IfsThinkingKnowsWayProblemGuySufferingWishGrowing UpIssuesGrowingCollegeGayMy Best FriendFriends Growing Up Author:Donald Trump, Jr.
“Trans rights formation that mimics the models and strategies of the lesbian and gay rights framework is growing, and there are many significant strategy disagreements between those building that work and those doing racial and economic justice centered trans work.” JusticeGrowingRightsEconomicBuildingGayModelsStrategySignificantFrameworkDisagreementFormationTransGay RightsEconomic Justice Author:Dean Spade
“Sedaris, in his essay in the It Gets Better book, writes that when he was growing up nobody called him gay because you might as well have called him a warlock. Nobody knew what gay was.” WritingWellsBookMightGrowing UpGrowingGayGet BetterEssaysWarlocksIt Gets Better Author:Dan Savage
“I was definitely scared of fashion growing up just because I didn't want people to think I was gay. But now that I'm out, I feel like it's such a personal journey for me that I'm going on every single day where I feel more and more confident and comfortable to wear the clothes that I want to wear, and to have the interest that I have, and to paint my nails if I want to.” PeopleIfsThinkingWantFeelsInterestGrowing UpGrowingJourneyFashionGayComfortableClothesPaintScaredNailsPersonal Journey Author:Troye Sivan
“I learned this one growing up in Texas and, subsequently, living in Los Angeles: always use the 'usted' form when speaking to a Spanish official. Mexican border patrol cops don't like it when you call them 'amigo,' give them a hardy pat on the back, slip a $20 in their pocket. No bueno, it doesn't fly. By the way, those of you not laughing at that obviously took French in high school, and that was a gay choice.” WayGivingUseSchoolFormChoicesLaughingGrowing UpGrowingGayHigh SchoolBordersOfficialsPocketsLos AngelesTexasSlipsCopMexicanHardyBorder PatrolMexican Border Author:Iliza Shlesinger
“I can imagine that if you're a kid growing up somewhere, where you might be gay or you think you're gay, but you don't know who else would be ... you become very closeted.” IfsThinkingKnowsI CanMightWould BeKidsGrowing UpGrowingImagineGayBe YouImagine ThatKids Growing Up Author:Rib Hillis
“I know one gay ex-Mormon who is a talented, self-destructive alcoholic. Whenever he is drunk and going on a tear, we are back to the Mormon Church and his being thrown out of the Mormon Church and growing up with this sense of being evil.” KnowsSelfEvilChurchGrowing UpGrowingTearsGayDrunkDestructiveThrownExesAlcoholicsSelf Destructive Author:Andrew Solomon
“Growing up in a Jewish matriarchal world inside the patriarchal paradise of Salt Lake City, Utah, gave me increased perspective on gender issues, as it also did my gay brother and my lesbian sister. Our younger sister is the perfect Jewish-American wife and mother, and is fiercely proud of that fact.” WorldFactsMotherPerfectCitiesGrowing UpIssuesWifeGrowingBrotherPerspectiveProudGayGenderParadiseLakesSaltUtahWives And MothersYounger SisterGender IssuesSalt Lake City Book:Roseannearchy: Dispatches from the Nut Farm Source: Roseannearchy: Dispatches from the Nut Farm
“Growing up in Kentucky, I used to hang out with four running buddies as a kid - 6, 10, and 11 years old. Two of them would later come out, and so 50 percent of my friends as a kid were gay.” YearsTwoRunningKidsUsedGrowing UpFourGrowingGayPercentMy FriendsHanging OutBuddyKentucky Author:Hal Sparks
“I wanted to show America a different kind of man. If there was someone like me when I was growing up, my whole life would have been different.” IfsMenKindHas BeensDifferentWholeShowsWantedAmericaGrowing UpGrowingGayWhole LifeLike MeDifferent Kinds Author:Chaz Bono