By time the spring '95 came around, I knew I was going to American U in DC in the fall. So, after graduating from HS, I started coming out.
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I was still heartbroken over a boy from home at first, writing to Jim about how ~lost~ I was and such — but Jim helped me through it.
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And, even though I wasn't out upon arrival at AU, I ~cautiously~ started coming out to people within a month of arriving. It was glorious.
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Over Thanksgiving, I came home to Ohio & came out to my mom. She was as wonderful as a mom could be. ... The next week, I went back to DC.
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Over those weeks,
@ATLJono and I had been flirting with each other in the course of our of volunteer work for World AIDS Day. -
Then, on Dec. 1, 1995, he kissed me. And I kissed him. And we started dating.
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I screwed many things up over the course of our relationship, did many things just out-and-out wrong, learned many things, and grew up some.
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(I still screw things up today, as I have done most days since '95. But, that's life, and y'all know I love living honestly about that.)
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But, throughout the past 20 years, I have been so incredibly blessed to have met, fallen in love with, & then become friends with
@ATLJono. -
I am similarly grateful to have had TI in my life — & to have had Jim & Mickey (both of whom I still am in touch with) & Mike there.
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I also have a mother and had a father who loved me unconditionally. ... My story is a fairy tale compared to so many others from then.
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I also know that, but for an accident of timing, I easily could have been lost to AIDS.
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I was just young enough to have missed so much of the horror. I stand in awe to this day of those who lived & fought & cried through it.
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One of the pictures I ran across tonight, from Oct. 1996, has me thinking about that "accidental" part of my story:pic.twitter.com/WvHEcornQn
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That's
@ATLJono and me at the AIDS Memorial Quilt in 1996 — the last time the whole Quilt could be unfolded on the National Mall. -
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@ATLJono & I have been friends for many times more time than the, in retrospect, brief time we dated. He's been a rock & incredible friend. -
It is great to know, though, that I was lucky enough to have met such an incredible person to have been my ~first~ boyfriend. I'm v lucky.
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Of c, the two decades since have not been all joy. I've had pain & troubles, like anyone, but I've always had people who loved me deeply.
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And, from that slide more than 20 years ago, I've always had great mentors & friends who have helped me when I'm down & celebrated my wins.
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It all started, though, with me being willing to write those words to another high school kid in 1994: "I'm gay, too."
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And, btw, 1994 Chris: Safe to say, politics is going to be a big part of your career — and being gay actually makes you better at your job.
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Thanks for listening, y'all. You're pretty wonderful yourselves.

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