As a member of the LGBT community, I see America through the eyes of someone who has had to struggle to gain acceptance from others and themselves. When you are gay or transgender not everyone is going to accept or understand you, but you have a chance to be who you are because in America you can build your own path. To me, Americans are like phoenixes; we can rise from the ashes of our pasts, and build ourselves up creating our own sense of liberty and freedom. I grew up in a traditional Christian household, so I was very sheltered as a child. When it came to anything the church thought was a sin, I was never told about it, so I didn’t know what being gay meant until I was 12 years old. I moved from Tennessee to Minnesota when I was 12 and in this new place, I learned many things about diversity. When I got to the part of my life when I started being attracted to people, I noticed an attraction to girls. I was very ashamed of this, …show more content…
When I saw the flash of my mom 's headlights my body shook with fear and I held in a sob. My mom opened the front door and I ran to her, clinging to her like I did when I was a child. I felt the warmth of her skin against mine and listened for a moment to her heartbeat. “Can we talk about something?” I asked, letting go of my mom. “Yes,” my mom responded, a bit confused. We walked down to my bedroom. I scanned the walls full of posters of different bands and video games for the painting my very first girlfriend gave me. I looked at the painting for a moment. It was of two girls and hidden in the girl 's hair were the words ‘love is love’. The painting gave me a surge of courage. I looked back at my mom. At this point, my entire body was shaking and my stomach was tied in knots. I opened my mouth but the words wouldn’t come out. My mom put her arm around me and I lost it. I started sobbing