I AM .....

I am the boy who never finished high school, because Igot called a fag everyday

I am the girl kicked out of her home because Iconfided in my mother that I am a lesbian.

I am the prostitute working the streets because nobodywill hire a transsexual woman.

I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights.

We are the parents who buried our daughter long beforeher time.

I am the man who died alone in the hospital becausethey would not let my partner of twenty-seven yearsinto the room.

I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who are the onlyloving family I have ever had. I wish they could adopt me.

I am not one of the lucky ones. I killed myself justweeks before graduating high school. It was simply toomuch to bear.

We are the couple who had the realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a one-bedroom for two men.

I am the person who never knows which bathroom I should use if I want to avoid getting the managementcalled on me.

I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court says Iam an unfit mother because I now live with another woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who found thesupport system grow suddenly cold and distant whenthey found out my abusive partner is also a woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who has no support system to turn to because I am male.

I am the father who has never hugged his son because I grew up afraid to show affection to other men.

I am the home-economics teacher who always wanted toteach gym until someone told me that only lesbians do that.

I am the woman who died when the EMTs stopped treatingme as soon as they realized I was transsexual.

I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I didnt have toalways deal with society hating me.

I am the man who stopped attending church, not because I don't believe, but because they closed their doors to my kind.

I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most, love.

I am the person ashamed to tell my own friends i'm a lesbian, because they constantly make fun of them.

I am the boy tied to a fence, beaten to a bloody pulp and left to die because two straight men wanted to"teach me a lesson"

~Author Unknown