A. I knew I was into women when I was like 14. I had a crush on my uncle’s girlfriend. My grandmother made me very comfortable about whatever I did. I grew up in a small village so I never really came out like how other people say they came out. I was just myself. I never felt uncomfortable or anything I was always myself. I had boyfriends before but I was just always myself.
Q. Family is a very big factor in almost every culture. How did your family find out you were queer and what was the time difference from you discovering who you are and them finding out?
A. So my grandmother raised me. But when I came here I lived in a group home and I was raped when I was 14. So my lifestyle was different. I didn’t have like a mother and father or a home for me to be afraid of who I am or hide my sexuality from them. I grew up in a group home so they were accepting of who I am and I’ve never been afraid of myself. I never put if I’m lesbian, gay or bisexual. I’m just myself.
Q. What would you like to say to a young person who is coming from a culture that is oppressive, homophobic, or that values one group over the other? And if you can go back into that space when you discovered who you are, what would you like to say to an individual who's challenged with having the freedom to be who they are?
A. Be yourself and believe in yourself and don’t have fear. I feel like being fearful is the reason why people are discouraged from being themselves. The fear of losing your family or fear of being rejected. And I feel like if you can just be yourself and know that you are ok with who you are and know that you’re loved. You have to love yourself first and then you’ll be ok. Again, I can’t really understand anybody’s pain or feeling about being rejected and so forth because I lived in a group home. I didn’t care, I didn’t have any family to lose I lost them already. They didn’t matter to me. I was raped by my mother’s den husband when I came to America. He raped me here so the city took me and let me stay here (in America).