LGBTQ Archives - Page 7 of 10 - StoryCorps

Robin Share and Rami Aizic

Since childhood, Rami Aizic knew he always wanted to be a father and just assumed that one day he would meet a woman, fall in love, and it would all fall into place.

Then he realized he was gay.

Robin Share wanted to be a mother, but she did not have a partner, so when a friend introduced them and they hit it off, they began making plans to have a baby together.

At StoryCorps, Rami and Robin talk about their journey to become parents to their now 14-year-old daughter.

Originally aired November 1, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Samuel Taylor and Connie Casey

When he was 15 years old, Samuel Taylor came out to his mother, Connie Casey.

In an attempt to “fix” her son, Connie sent Samuel to a series of ex-gay conversion therapy ministries affiliated with Exodus International. Samuel was in therapy for three years.

Samuel, 22, came to StoryCorps with Connie to talk about his experience—and to hear about the evolution of her beliefs.

Originally aired June 28, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

This story was originally broadcast a few days after Exodus International folded and apologized for promoting reparative therapies. At the time of this broadcast, subjecting minors to conversion therapy remains legal in 45 states. 

Alexis Martinez and Lesley Martinez Etherly

Growing up in the 1960s in a housing project on the South Side of Chicago, Alexis Martinez (left) knew that she had to hide from others that she is transgender.

At StoryCorps, she told her daughter, Lesley Martinez Etherly (right), about growing up, parenthood, and now living as a woman.

Originally aired May 5, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

John Curtis and John Wikiera

Homecoming_Dec1998John Curtis and his husband, David Wikiera (pictured at left), have two sons. The couple adopted their first child, also named John, from Vietnam when he was a baby.

At StoryCorps, John and his son, 11-year-old John, talk about the boy’s hopes for the future, and the father’s desire to be a parent.

Originally aired April 12, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Above: John and David arrive home from Vietnam with baby John in 1998. Photo courtesy of John Curtis.

Tracy Johnson and Sandra Johnson

North Carolina National Guardsman Tracy Johnson (left) is an Iraq war veteran and an Army widow. She is also believed to be the first gay spouse to lose her partner at war since the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Donna Johnson was killed on Oct. 1, 2012, while on patrol in Khost, Afghanistan. She was 29.

Tracy married her long-time partner, Staff Sergeant Donna Johnson, on Valentine’s Day in 2012. Later that year, Donna was killed by a suicide bomber while serving in Khost, Afghanistan. She was 29 years old.

The Army did not consider Tracy to be Donna’s next of kin, but when Army representatives arrived to inform Donna’s family of her death, Tracy presented their marriage certificate and asked to be part of the military escort that would welcome her wife back to U.S. soil. This request was ultimately granted at the insistence of her mother-in-law, Sandra Johnson (right).

At StoryCorps, Tracy and Sandra talk about finding out that their wife and daughter wasn’t coming home.

Originally aired February 16, 2013, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.

Above: Staff Sergeant Donna Johnson. Photo courtesy of U.S. Army Public Affairs Office.

Michael Wilmoth and Bryan Wilmoth

Bryan Wilmoth (right) and his seven younger siblings were raised in a strict, religious household. When Bryan’s father found a love letter from a man in his box of things, he drove him into the countryside and dropped him off in the middle of the night with a five dollar bill.

All of the siblings at Bryan and Michael's sister's wedding in June 2007. From left: Jude, Mike, Pam, Bryan, Amy, Curtis (groom), Chris, Luke-Henry and Josh.Over the years, all of Bryan’s siblings either ran away from or were kicked out of their family home. He made efforts to reconnect with them, but many were initially resistant, so it took a long time for their relationships to grow.

At StoryCorps, Bryan and his brother Michael (left) recall how their family grew close.

Click here to watch “A Good Man,” a StoryCorps animation of Bryan and Michael’s conversation.

Originally aired January 25, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Above: The Wilmoth siblings at Bryan and Michael’s sister’s wedding in June 2007. From left: Jude, Mike, Pam, Bryan, Amy, Curtis (groom), Chris, Luke-Henry, and Josh.

Matthew Merlin and Michael Levine

Update: On June 24, 2016, President Barack Obama designated a new national monument at the site of the Stonewall Uprising, the first national monument to recognize the fight for LGBT rights.

levine_1969In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, in New York City’s Greenwich Village, police raided the Stonewall Inn. What followed was a series of demonstrations and protests—sometimes violent—by members of the LGBT community.

Considered to be the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement in the United States, the Stonewall Uprising played a significant role in beginning the process of unifying and organizing activists fighting for LGBT rights.

One of the patrons in the bar at the time of the raid was Michael Levine (above right). He was there on a date drinking and dancing when the “lights went up, the music went off and you could hear a pin drop.”

Michael came to StoryCorps with his friend Matthew Merlin (above left) to recall the night of the Stonewall Uprisings and how it changed him as a person and his outlook on the world.

Originally aired June 25, 2010, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Above: Michael Levine pictured in 1969. Photo courtesy of Michael Levine.

James Dale

In the case of Boy Scouts of America et al v. Dale in 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts could refuse membership to people who identify as gay.

The plaintiff in the case was James Dale, who began scouting when he was eight years old. By the time he entered Rutgers University, he was an Eagle Scout and an Assistant Scout Master.

After a two-year review, the Boy Scouts reaffirmed the ban on July 17, 2012.

Denny Meyer

When Denny Meyer enlisted in the Navy in 1968, he had to hide the fact that he was gay.

At the time, homosexuality wasn’t tolerated in the Navy and anyone found to be gay would be discharged from service.

At StoryCorps, Meyer recalled what it was like to be gay and a sailor in those days.

Originally aired June 22, 2012, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Lisa Combest and James Hanson-Brown

It’s not often that couples split up and stay close friends.

But that’s what happened to James Hanson-Brown and his ex-wife, Lisa Combest.

They fell in love in high school, got married, and began to grow apart.

At StoryCorps, they remembered how their divorce deepened their relationship.

This story is also included in All There Is: Love Stories from StoryCorps.