The LIKEME® Organization

I'm 38 years old and I've been with my wife now for over 17 years. We lived in a small town in South Dakota when we first met in 1993. I was 21 and she was 29 with 2 small children. We were in the closet for several years and while nothing bad ever happened to us, we definitely endured subtle (and not so subtle) discrimination from people who figured out we were a couple. After six years together, but NOT living together, the four of us moved. We moved to a town of about 150,000 people so needless to say the attitudes were much more open! My wife and I each learned that the more we came to truly BE OURSELVES, other pieces of our lives fell into place. We found an open and affirming church (United Church of Christ) in 2001 and we were married there in 2006. 150 people were at our wedding, and over 100 of them were members of our church! We are now open, proud individuals (and a proud couple!) We have 2 very loving supportive children who are now 22 and 24 and we're also grandmas to a beautiful 15-month old granddaughter!

I'm saying all of these things to say IT GETS BETTER!! I started my "journey" of coming out to myself and others at the age of 20 (although there were many "signs" that I couldn't put a name on years before that). It started out feeling so scary and like no one could understand or accept me. PLEASE know that there are resources and people LIKE YOU who can support you and tell you that your journey will get easier and LIFE IS GOOD!! God bless every person who visits the LIKE ME site and perhaps takes something away from my story. Peace to you all my brothers and sisters!

I finally came out when I had just turned 36. My Dad died almost 2 years later, and I am eternally grateful he had the opportunity to met my wife, see me get married, and to know me as a truly happy person. This was almost 4 years ago, and I am happier than ever. My daughter, who is almost 13, is very accepting, and she loves her step-mum, my partner.

My wife and I are writers from Los Angeles. We are one of the 18,000 couples who got married before Prop 8 passed in California. We look forward to Prop 8 being struck down in the courts so other California couples can continue to get married.

I feel very fortunate, though like many, I struggled with my sexuality for years, had numerous thoughts of suicide and hit rock bottom with depression, once I decided to be true to myself and truthful to those around me, I gained the strength and courage I needed to go on in life. I'm not sure where the strength and courage came from, maybe it came from a sense of utter hopelessness in my situation, I guess I just felt like I had nothing left to lose, so why not just throw caution to the wind? My coming out overall has not burned any bridges or lost me any closeness with my family, for this I feel very fortunate. Don't get me wrong, it did not come without conflict. I am a twin, and not just any twin, an identical twin. From an early age my twin sister was boy crazy, loved dresses, princesses and makeup. I was a tomboy, loved sports, Donald Duck, fishing and our grade school friend, not to mention our 5th grade female teacher. My sister and I looked identical on the outside (even won a prize for looking alike in a contest), but our personalities and loves couldn't have been more opposite. My entire life I have tried to wrap my brain around how it is possible for two people with "identical" DNA to have opposite sexual orientations. I know more science has come out showing even "Identical twins" do not have exactly identical DNA, however it made it very hard for me to accept myself and made it even harder for my mother. I was forced to date boys (or risk losing the privilege to participate in my sports or hang out with my "best friend" let's just call her a lost love) because my mom told me I couldn't be gay because my twin liked boys. I gave being straight a second try when I got to college, I figured, maybe I just never found the right guy in my small town. My sister and I continued to remain very close through all of this (we were roommates in college our frosh year), however at that time I was too scared to come out to her about my true feelings for women. I was afraid I'd loose my best friend, my twin and the only reason at the time I was keeping myself alive. I tried to immerse myself in "straight culture" at school. I joined a sorority, I went to frat parties, I dated men and all of this made me more despondent and depressed. After becoming so fatigued with the lies I was carrying around, and becoming physically unable to drag myself out of bed to classes, I finally broke down and told a friend that I was for certain a lesbian. Thankfully I chose this friend well and had an overall encouraging and positive experience which gave me the courage to come out to my sister. All my fears were assuaged when she told me, she already knew, didn't care and just couldn't wait until I'd get a grip and just accept it already. (I wish she had just come out with that acceptance earlier to spare me all of the angst, but I digress.) Over time I came out to my sorority sisters, openly started dating women and was 100% out at school. The trouble with my mom began when I wanted to bring my girlfriend home for the holidays. My mom always wanted to be involved in every facet of our lives. She invited boyfriends over for holidays when you didn't even want them there she was always so excited about the relationship. When I told her I was planning on bringing my girlfriend home to meet the family, she said absolutely not. I was welcome to come but I was not welcome to bring my girlfriend. I told her this part of me was not going to change, I had liked women for as long as I could remember and she was the one now who had to make a choice. She had the choice of coming to terms with my sexuality or loosing me as a part of her life. It was two years before my mom came to terms with it, over those years there were heated debates, many missed holidays with my family and many letters from me explaining my feelings. I don't remember the exact day she "got over it" I'm pretty sure it happened gradually, after I had been with my partner for over 2 yrs I think she finally realized, this is not something that was going to go away and just gave up. Funny, when I finally was able to bring my partner to family gatherings my mother's siblings were very accepting and inviting. My partner, now my wife since my state laws allow it, and I have now been together for over 7 yrs. When I found that my perseverance could change my mother's feelings on my relationship, a person who I never thought would come around and ever truly accept me, I gained the courage to speak out and promote acceptance for all. I live my life out and proud now every day because it is the best way I know how to help those who's stories are not yet as positive as mine.

I'm 28 years old and grew up in Oregon. I came out when I was 16 years old. I have been lucky to have a great group of friends and a loving supportive family. My story has been good. Reading about other people’s hardships makes me very grateful for my experience. I'm not saying that I have not received prejudice for my sexuality. I have just had an amazing support system. I think that helps. I'm Happy to say that I am a Single Gay Father to a beautiful two year old daughter. My life is good. I had struggles as a teenager but it does get better! I am a Happy, Proud Gay Father!!

I am a 47 year old gay woman who had been through many of the same struggles as Chely. I knew I was different at a very early age, but was never able to pinpoint what that difference was. Later in life, I had relationships with both men and women, but always felt more connected with women. I am 47 years old and it took me 25 years to be "OK" with who I was. I lead a very closeted life for many years, and was ashamed of who I was. I was lucky enough to marry my wife "legally" in Malibu, CA. We are both feminine, strong, successful women who support our community. I applaud Chely on having the guts to risk her career, her livelihood, to take this courageous step and am totally on board with our support. We are so happy and proud of who we are, and "it does get better", but It is my hope that is doesn't take as long for the young people of today to embrace their truth and be proud of who God made them. It is so important for us to support our youth and our community!