Meanwhile, her high school years wore on with her fighting her art insecurity and being effectively friendless aside from her neighbors. While closeted from most of the kids in her grade, she was a member of the high school’s GSA. This is where she first learned about LGBT history, pansexuality, and more about trans people. However, this club struggled to hold together at the time, with Kimberly accidentally showing up often when the meetings were cancelled. Graduation was a huge relief for Kimberly, who never quite fit in. Suffolk Community College was a much brighter spot in Kimberly’s life. She met two of her closest friends in an LGBT Club and both her overall mental health and art quality improved. She learned more about the LGBT community during this time. During this time, a new wave of LGBT pride was sweeping across the youth. More young people were coming out, and more terminology and discussion arose with that. However, this youth movement did not come without some negative aspects. As the movement grew, so did confusion and even hatred outside of the community. Homophobia and extreme transphobia were on the rise.One day, the club members each told their coming out story. Kimberly had no idea how lucky she was to have such an accepting family. Stories of disownership, financial cut-offs, permanently damaged relationships with family, abandonment, and abuse plagued the stories of nearly everyone else. By the time Kimberly graduated, the amount of sexualities, gender identities, and pronouns left many people feeling alienated from the community. This led to a lot of confusion about the LGBT community. Kimberly believed there was a difference between ignorance and hatred. Ignorance did not always have bad intentions; some people were just confused. Kimberly’s mother even admitted that despite having a lesbian daughter, she did not know much about the LGBT community and what all the sexual orientations and gender identities meant. Kimberly felt that if there was a way to educate people on LGBT concepts in a way that was accessible and interesting, then people would be more understanding and accepting. The LGBT community was also filled with much history and culture, making it a great topic to learn about. 9
10 Publizr Home