Coming Out Stories
Hailey Preston
Most people on campus know me as Hailey. But who really is Hailey? Well, I have always known there was something different about me. I have played basketball for literally all my life … up until this year, but we will get to that later. I always noticed I wasn’t like the other girls on my team. I always felt different and like an outcast. In sixth or seventh grade, I fell in love with a girl named Faith. Faith just wasn’t an ordinary girl to me. When I told her how I felt she obviously turned me down. At the beginning of seventh grade there was a new girl, Destiny. She had shown me attention and I showed her attention right back. Being as young as we were, it wasn’t acceptable to others around us. People thought it was gross and called us all kinds of names. Being from a small town, words travels fast. And soon enough my family heard.
One night I was sitting upstairs in my room and I heard my Nana tell me to come downstairs. We sat down and talked, then the question came. She asked me if I like girls. I waited a few seconds and said, “Yes.” She asked if I was sure. And I said yes. We let it go for a few weeks and then I told my grandfather. He was not happy. He said he loved me but basically said he didn’t support who I was. He and I argued about it for years. I dated a girl in high school and her name was Claudia. She and I thought we would be together forever. My family was not supportive of it at all. And we ended up breaking up. Then came college. I had a few girls who I became close with but it never got serious. At the beginning of last spring semester I met SaraRose. I honestly thought we would just be friends and nothing else. But it is true what people say: The best things in life come unexpectedly. When I told my family they weren’t too happy. When summer break was coming about, my family slowly but surely disowned me. But who was there by my side? My girlfriend. And honestly she is the best thing.
If anyone is struggling with coming out of the closet I want you to remember one thing. Are you happy in the closet? If you are okay, you do you; if not, get out and make a difference in the world.