{"quotes":[{"text":"I don’t want anyone to hold back who they are. It’s not okay… it’s not a good thing.","author":"Connor Franta","tags":["coming-out","inspirational","lgbt","lgbtqia","team-internet","youtube"],"id":6092,"author_id":"Connor+Franta"},{"text":"I don't get as much fan mail as an actor or singer would, but when I get a letter 99% of the time it's pointing out something that really had an impact. Like after 'My Own Private Rodeo' all these people wrote to me and said Dale's dad inspired them to come out. And this was when it was still illegal to be gay in Texas and a few other states. Another one that really stuck with me was this girl who survived Columbine. See, 'Wings of the Dope,' the episode where Luanne's boyfriend comes back as an angel, aired two weeks after the shooting. About a month after that, I got a letter from a girl who was there and hid somewhere in the school when it was all going on. She said the first thing she was gonna do if she survived was tell a friend of hers she was in love with him. She never did. He ended up being one of the kids responsible for it. So you can imagine how - you know, to her, it felt wrong to grieve almost, and she bottled it up. But she saw that episode and Buckley walking away at the end and something just let her finally break down and greive and miss the guy. I remember she quoted Luanne - 'I wonder if he's guardianing some other girl,' or something along that line, because she never had the guts to tell the kid. That really gets to people at Comic Con.","author":"Mike Judge","tags":["2007","columbine","coming-out","fame","fan-mail","grief","king-of-the-hill","letters","tv-guide","unrequited-love"],"id":9580,"author_id":"Mike+Judge"},{"text":"He plants himself right there in front of Craig’s mother and says, “You need to love him. I don’t care who you thought he was, or who you want him to be, you need to love him exactly as he is because your son is a remarkable human being. You have to understand that.”And Craig’s mother whispers back, “I know. I know.","author":"David Levithan","tags":["acceptance","coming-out","coming-out-of-the-closet"],"id":26221,"author_id":"David+Levithan"},{"text":"I opened my mouth to do some calm explaining. 'I'm gay.' is what came out.","author":"Jane B. Mason","tags":["coming-out","gay","lesbian","queer"],"id":67429,"author_id":"Jane+B.+Mason"},{"text":"I'm still not totally sure I know what's true about me.","author":"Kenneth Logan","tags":["coming-out","glbt","growing-up","high-school","lgbt","parents","romance","self-discovery","teen","ya"],"id":69374,"author_id":"Kenneth+Logan"},{"text":"If you are in the closet and fall in love with someone of the same gender, it doesn't automatically remove the shame and fear that's kept you locked away. The love you are experiencing encourages you to face the reality that this is who you really are and also has the power to set you free. The richness, beauty and depths of love can only be fully experienced in a climate of complete openness, honesty and vulnerability. Love, the most powerful of human emotions, is calling you to freedom and wholeness.","author":"Anthony Venn-Brown","tags":["coming-out","coming-out-of-the-closet","gay","lesbian","lgbt"],"id":78336,"author_id":"Anthony+Venn-Brown"},{"text":"I mean , I never even had to really come out to my parents. They always knew, and it was always okay. Or not even okay, better than that. Not something that had to be evaluated at all. It just was. Like having brown hair.","author":"Julie Buxbaum","tags":["coming-out","lgbt","love"],"id":91872,"author_id":"Julie+Buxbaum"},{"text":"Dude,” he said instead, “I’m flattered as hell.” And then he kicked my foot, lightly, twice. He was smiling.He couldn’t see the chasm that had opened behind my ribs.","author":"Kenneth Logan","tags":["coming-out","glbt","growing-up","lgbt","parents","romance","teen","ya"],"id":105601,"author_id":"Kenneth+Logan"},{"text":"I know I can't tell you what it's like to be gay. But I can tell you what it's not. It's not hiding behind words, Mama. Like family and decency and Christianity.","author":"Armistead Maupin","tags":["bigotry","christianity","coming-out","equality","family","gay"],"id":116914,"author_id":"Armistead+Maupin"},{"text":"I've always wanted to wake up one day in a world where I liked the right people, and they lied me in return. I worry it'll never happen.","author":"Kenneth Logan","tags":["coming-out","glbt","growing-up","high-school","lgbt","love","parents","romance","self-discovery","teen","ya"],"id":118049,"author_id":"Kenneth+Logan"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":51,"pages":6,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}