Living Out Loud

A collection of coming of age pride stories.

A Life With Pride

LGBTQIA Pride —
Sam stood alone in the dark outside the club. They could hear muffled conversations, and laughter, and the thick thump of the bass seemed to beat in time with their heart. How many times had they reached for the door handle and then let their hand drop? They reached up and grabbed the handle again. It might’ve been their imagination, but the metal felt warm. A new life waited on the other side, a new community, a place to live without hiding. To live with pride. Sam pulled open the door and stepped inside.

My Butterfly

Transgender Pride—
When Dean told his grandmother his chosen name, told her she had a grandson and not a granddaughter after all, he braced himself for her confusion, her rejection. She smiled at him and took his hand. And this is what she told him: Transformation is everywhere. Clouds are never the same from one moment to the next. Every wave of the ocean that has ever been is different from the one that came before. Look at the butterfly. An egg becomes a larva, just trying to survive, covered with colors or spines to seem tough, untouchable. And then the chrysalis. And then rebirth, and the butterfly, so beautiful. You are beautiful, my grandson, my butterfly.

A Visible Life

Bisexual Pride —
They called themselves Bi Club and joked their numbers were so small because no one could see their signs. Bridget didn’t want to pass as straight just because she was currently dating a guy, and Lucy didn’t want to pass as lesbian just because she was married to a woman. Nate didn’t date at all because he was too busy with school, but knew he liked women and men. Poe, nonbinary and bi, was everyone’s little sib, and so very tired of the world outside Bi Club telling them to pick a side. Together they marched, met with GSAs, and worked with other queer orgs to highlight the B in LGBTQIA+. All for one, one for all, all visible.

It's Never Too Late

Asexual Pride—
Jacob was eighty when he finally found there was a name for the way he felt. His family blamed Vietnam for him never getting married. The truth was he’d been in love a dozen times over the years, but never knew how to explain that he didn’t want, or need, to express that sexually. When his great-great-nephew Austin came out as asexual, and explained to Jacob what that meant, it was like a bolt of lightning had lit up the world. He’d given up being a pilot after the war, but now he knew that he was still an ace.

A Vast Love

Pansexual Pride —
Kat loved to watch the stars. Always had, from childhood. When she felt sad, or lonely, or different, or just wanted to feel connected to something bigger than herself, she’d sneak out onto the oak branch outside her window and up to the roof. No matter how many times she got caught, and scolded, she couldn’t resist that uninterrupted view of the sky. She loved the stars, bright or faint, in whatever tinge of color, she wanted to wish upon each one. Each one was beautiful. And the constellations, Andromeda, Orion, Cetus, Lyra. She loved them all. As in the stars, so in her heart.