In this photo, I’m wearing my mother’s dress and sun hat and parading around our house. My father was a scientist and my mother was a pianist, and they were progressive and bohemian European nudists. They had gay people in their circle of friends, so while I was at home, I felt safe. It wasn’t until I started middle school that the bullying and torture began over my sexuality. And I quickly learned that I had better start hiding my truth, to avoid physical and emotional attacks, many of which led me to the brink of suicide. In this photograph, I am still happy and free, like so many of the childhood photos in this book. Many of these pictures capture us as the joy-filled spirits we once were, before the mean world forced us to change. Today, I feel lucky and free again.
