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My Why for Being an LGBTQ Ally

Family gatherings were filled with laughter, food, and stories. Yet, among these joyful moments, there was always a sense of something unspoken, a quiet pain that lurked beneath the surface.

Libby Winkler
4 min readJun 3, 2024
Photo by Cam Fattahi on Unsplash

My Why for Being an LGBTQ Ally

Growing up, I never questioned the importance of family. Family gatherings were filled with laughter, food, and stories.

Yet, among these joyful moments, there was always a sense of something unspoken, a quiet pain that lurked beneath the surface. This pain belonged to my cousin, a man who could never live his authentic life as a gay man.

My cousin, let’s call him James, was the kind of person who lit up a room with his presence.

His smile was infectious, his laughter was genuine, and his kindness knew no bounds. Yet, there was a part of James that remained hidden, a secret he felt compelled to keep. Growing up in a conservative family and community, being gay was not an option that seemed available to him. Instead, he felt the need to conform to societal expectations.

James entered into a marriage with a woman who was as dominant as she was controlling. From the outside, it seemed like a typical union…

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Libby Winkler
Libby Winkler

Written by Libby Winkler

Freelance writer who loves exploring the messiness of humanity, while poking around in nooks of life and shining light on all the things that make us complex..

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