Choosing to avoid talking about money, sex, religion or mental health doesn’t make them go away. Each of these taboo subject are part of the human experience and to exclude them from “normal life” is silly, in fact impossible.

I began to hate myself and pray that God would make me straight. I carried the fear that authenticity would be met with condemnation and shame for years. No one felt safe to share with anymore, so I hid it all deep within me.

In the South, Christianity was as ubiquitous as sweet tea and country music. Questioning my religion meant questioning how the entire world worked and my very identity.

Maybe if I just kept acting like a Christian, I’d eventually feel like one again.

I was so angry that something that framed itself as comforting and inclusive [church/Christianity] felt like a dagger in the heart. The more I leaned into my true identity, the more distant I felt from religion. It just didn’t align with who I wanted to become.