OpEd: 'Understanding builds bridges, and those bridges are needed right now from coast to coast.' Read more from SenToniAtkins on legislation aimed at helping LGBTQ+ youth and communities feel less isolated.
The First Openly LGBTQ+ State Senator to Lead the California Legislature on Protecting Queer Youth
I grew up in a rural nook of southwestern Virginia, one of four children, and into a family so poor that we didn’t have running water in our house. Growing up, I wasn’t popular. I was the girl who went to summer camp on a church scholarship with a bathing suit that my mother had sewn me. I played pick-up basketball games and was elected head of the Latin Club. I didn’t think the world was about me. And never did I think that I would be accepted as my true self.
It’s been a little more than 40 years since then, and although times have changed in many ways, there still are LGBTQ+ teens and young adults living in corners of our country who feel isolated and alone. Who feel afraid to share with their family, their peers, or their community who they truly are. Who are fearful to celebrate this Pride Month, and may feel more shame than pride themselves.
When I think about my own life, that certainly held true. My parents were evangelical Christians living in the South – I was anticipating the worst when I came out to them at age 18. But what I learned was the depth of their love for me, and that their connection to me helped foster an understanding of not only me as their daughter, but of others like me.
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