“My family is not accepting. I think a lot of people forget that, or like do not see that because I do not really talk about it as often. But that is okay. . . . It is hard, yes. But chosen family is important, too. And making sure that, we teach other parents about what it really means to be affirming, and my parents have still never met my current partner and do not recognize our son as their grandchild, and they did not do that with my former partner either. They really did not like her either. But even through all that, there is still a drive for compassion and being better than that.”
“Because I think a lot of people think that in my family life is perfect and that I have had supportive people always and that is not the case.”