As we recognize #lgbthistory Month, #comingout for me was a very interesting experience. I decided to write my parents a note and did not want them to talk about it with me until the next day. At the point that I decided that I needed to come out. I was confident in who I was and who I want it to be. when my parents ended up looking at the letter my mom was more worried because I identify as #pansexual and she did not completely know what that was and she was just used to people saying that they were #gay, #lesbian, #bisexual, and #transgender.

My mother worried for my mental health because at the time and still today we’re still dealing with some homophobia. My dad mostly agreed with my mom but really had no words to describe of how he felt.  my story is a very unique but simple story and I understand that others go through different issues of coming out, but I always remind people when I tell my story that there is always Support that is out there when you’re ready to tell your story. 

.

Stephon Camp

They/Them He/Him

Louisville, KY

Youth Activist Alliance

Coming out was never something that I thought I would do. Growing up in a homophobic and religious household, I had decided that I was going to come out when I moved out of my parent’s home, but fate decided otherwise. At age 15 I was “forced” to come out because my mother found a hickey on my neck after hanging out with one of my “friends” lol. That was one of the best yet scariest days of my life because although it felt like a huge weight was off my shoulders, another weight was added on because I knew my home was not affirming. 

Looking back, outing myself was one of the best things that I could have done. Although things were rough at first, my family eventually learned to love and accept me for myself. Through the years I have learned about my own sexuality and gender identity. Although it’s been a rollercoaster ride, it’s a ride that I love. Coming out is not something that just happens once. Not only do you come out to other people, but you also come out to yourself. Sexuality and gender is fluid and this is something that I’m still learning and accepting about myself every single day. 

No matter if you are out or not, give yourself time. Your experiences are valid. You do not have to be certain of everything that you are feeling right now. As a Black, queer, and non-binary woman who first came out as a lesbian, it takes time. Give yourself grace, time, and love. Happy national coming out day!“

Yours from afar, 

Khouri. 

as soon as i turned 14, i spent that entire year figuring stuff out. i knew that my mother was not going to be NOT accepting but i just didn’t know how to approach it. i had never said it out loud.

it was the summer before high school and i was like i need to come out because i’m not going to be closeted in high school, i wanna be myself.

i told my sister in march 2018 after we saw “love, simon.” i told my mother may 15, 2018.

that morning i woke up and was like “i’m gonna tell her today.” she was at work and i couldn’t wait until she got home. so i thought it was easier to tell her through text so she could read when she was alone. i remember her texting back, “i love you and are you ok?” that was because in middle school, i was teased a lot. my mother and i have always been close. she is even more protective now. 

when i got the steps of the school, i told my friends that i came out to my mother and started to cry. i felt free.

During the 12th annual observance of National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, NYHAAD Ambassadors and youth activists reaffirmed that young people receive poor quality of care due to stigma, lack of healthcare providers’ awareness, and insensitivity to the unique needs of this community.

Our young people highlighted the challenges faced by young people living with and vulnerable to HIV, offered insight on how they thrive, and enhanced the awareness among physicians, policymakers, and youth-serving organization staff, etc. about the existing disparities in order to provide a more comprehensive, competent evidence-based care to this community.

“I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do. I am going to write fire until it comes out of my ears, my eyes, my noseholes–everywhere. Until it’s every breath I breathe. I’m going to go out like a fucking meteor!”

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was an Afro-Caribbean writer, activist, and self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior and poet.

She empowered her readers with her moving poetry often tackling the injustices of racism, sexism and homophobia. She’s known for her poetry and memoirs such as, From a Land Where Other People Live, The Black Unicorn and A Burst of Light. 

Today we shout #HappyBirthdayAudreLorde

YouthResource member Tyunique is featured in the @cosmopolitan “LGBTQ Youth Aren’t Getting the Sex Ed They Deserve” video. Check out the full video here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=dmWA_XoLJ8Q

AlecZander, Ohio

I #WontBeErased. As an 18 year old, non-binary, queer person of color, I REFUSE to be told that in order to avoid harassment, I should conform to the sex stereotypes of America today. I refuse to be told that in order for my government to acknowledge my existence, I must be a cisgender, straight, white american. I will not erase my own identity by conforming. We will not erase our identities by conforming. The transgender community is over 1.4 million people strong and we will not simply disappear just because the Trump Administration wants to define us out of existence.

The Trump Administration’s proposal for redefining ‘gender’ is blatantly transphobic. The proposed definition of gender results in the erasure of transgender and gender-nonconforming people in Title IX’s anti-discriminatory law. This definition would define sex as unchangeable. This proposition would require that the gender of a person be determined by the genitals that a person is born with. If this proposed definition is adopted, it allows the federal government to ignore all issues relating to transgender discrimination under Title IX. When questioned about cases in which transgender students faced discrimination in school, the Education Department’s office for Civil Rights stated that they will continue to investigate cases as “unwelcome conduct based on a student’s sex” or “harassing conduct based on a student’s failure to conform to sex stereotypes.” rather than simply investigating them as what they are, transgender discrimination cases. This proves to the transgender community that our government not only wants to erase our existence, but expects us to conform to stereotypes that our society has placed on us.

“At the age of 16, I didn’t know non-binary, transgender, queer and blackness identities could co-exist with one another. At the age of 23 I am a representation of all those identities and I am proud, and liberated. Because I make my own  journey, and folks choose to be apart of it or not but they can’t take what’s mine.” — Aidan, Philadelphia