I’m From Fairfield, CA. As Christmas drew closer, the untameable beast of anxiety strengthened its strangle hold on all three of us. Sleep seemed like an old friend that I had not seen in years. We had all been taking prescription sleeping pills just to get through. They had set a date of January 2, 2010. This would be the date they told their kids and their family.

I’m From Payson, UT - Featured Artist. Up until the age of 12 I seemed no different from the other boys my age. No one could have ever guessed that I had gender identity disorder; not my friends, my parents, or even me. I had no trouble wearing boy clothes, and I was told I couldn’t wear dresses, so I didn’t. I never took to toys geared toward boys, but neither did I desire to play with dolls. My passion was in Legos, and drawing pictures; something that soon became evident, and lent itself to decades of art-related gift giving.

I’m From Salt Lake City, UT. The summer after my senior year of high school, I traveled to Europe for a last hoorah before college. I was 17 and a world away from Salt Lake City, the hometown that I had grown to hate desperately. Finally, I was getting a taste of what life would be like without the gaze of my parents’ eyes.

I’m From Rockford, IL. Despite the fact that I grew up in a conservative household — my mother was raised Irish Catholic, my father Lutheran — my parents always taught me to be accepting and tolerant of other human beings. I never heard any racism come from their lips.

I’m From Los Angeles, CA - Video Story. So growing up in Los Angeles, it’s obviously a pretty big city and I am fortunate enough that I never had to deal with homophobia too much. And the fact that my parents were completely fine with me being gay at a very young age. Between me wanting to take ballet lessons or saying I wanted to be a fashion designer, they didn’t really care. I think part of that was my uncle, who is gay, lived right next door to us.