Stories
Learning to be true to all that you are takes courage.
The cast of “Amy’s Song,” interviewed and photographed by Sarah Acer, shares their stories below.
“Maybe I just fall in love when I fall in love and the labels don’t matter.”
“I think people would have different attitudes toward gay people if they learned about it from a young age in school.”
“I’m still accepted more than others in my community.”
“We baptized the children of two lesbian women when no one else would do it.”
“I feel that I still have to ‘come out’ to them consistently because they see homosexuality as a struggle that can be overcome.”
“We don’t have to be the same.”
“All the kids in school know our children have two lesbian mothers and two gay fathers.”
“I wrote that I was gay, and that people should be more respectful to each other even if they are different.”
“I don’t think it matters if it’s a dad and a mom, just that kids have parents who love them.”
“Making our relationship ‘Facebook official’ was the first thing I had posted in years.”
“I hadn’t seen him for about a year, since I had come out to our family.”
“Everything changed when I turned 37.”
“I didn’t want anyone to feel as lonely as I did at 15.”
“What’s the point of life if you’re not able to be yourself?”
“I think an ally’s job is to help spread the message of equality.”
“My family will probably be angry that I’m talking about this.”
“I didn't know what I was doing dating a woman with two children.”
“I have to be representative of what’s going on right now and I have to use my medium and voice.”
“I should worry less, be less scared and just let it wash over me.”
“I have a tough time hearing people who say being gay is unnatural.”
“It’s powerful to see couples who exemplify the diversity of the human race.”
“Because of them we have the chance to marry who we love.”
“Yes, I am a gay man, but that’s all. It’s not a big issue.”
“I wish they wouldn’t have to say anything, it would just be accepted.”
“Home is any place where you can be yourself.”
“I’m the only one who has to live in my body for the rest of my life.”
“They’re worried I’m not going to give them grandchildren.”
“When you believe you are different, you think you are alone.”
“I felt from the beginning that I wanted to fight for this issue and try to make the world a bit more human.”
“I had to be really open and patient with her while she tried to understand me and my life.”
“How can you really breathe and function in life without being open about who you are?"
“It doesn’t matter what people think because some things just are.”
“It was worth fighting for.”
“I think we need more open conversations and less people assuming.”
“When my mother found out I was gay she stopped going to church.”
“People told me I was too public about my sexuality.”
“On paper it seems so far away from anything I might like, but I found it really inspirational.”
“We played a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who would get to come out first.”
“If I don’t stand up for myself, who will?”
“I spent a lot of time worrying about how people would respond.”
“There’s no one way a gay person looks.”