I'm from Driftwood.
April 1, 2009 5:09 AM   Subscribe

Part short story forum, part attempt to reach out to isolated teens struggling with their sexuality. I'm from Driftwood; true stories by gay people all over.
posted by piratebowling (19 comments total) 29 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is great. Thanks.
posted by lunit at 6:00 AM on April 1, 2009


wow, what a great project - thanks much for this!

(this story, in particular, was moving and poignant - made me cry, sap that i am)
posted by jammy at 6:06 AM on April 1, 2009


Thanks, piratebowling.

I'm from Galveston, TX.
posted by greekphilosophy at 6:41 AM on April 1, 2009


The "I’m from Clear Lake. But my dog is from Leander. I was able to adopt her, I’m pretty sure, only because I’m gay" post is nicely done. He sneaks up on you with his insights.
posted by umbú at 6:50 AM on April 1, 2009


Thanks for this post. I want to take a closer look at the stories.

I'm from Pasadena, CA.
posted by blucevalo at 6:53 AM on April 1, 2009


I'm with janmmy - the "I'm From Glasgow" one got me good. If I'm this sappy at 7:30am, then pretty much I'm gonna be useless the rest of the day.
posted by Smarson at 7:37 AM on April 1, 2009


What a great site -- I really enjoyed reading these stories. Thank you!
posted by cider at 7:59 AM on April 1, 2009


Very well thought out pieces. ::sigh:: if only the interwebs were around when I was growing up ... would've made the world a little less lonely. Much love piratebowling.

I'm from Fort Collins, CO.
posted by DigDub at 8:17 AM on April 1, 2009


I don't dare get sappy right now, so I will save the reading for a little bit later. Thanks, piratebowling!

I'm from Honolulu, HI and Boston, MA.
posted by rtha at 9:18 AM on April 1, 2009


Being from Crowley, Texas it's nice seeing other gay Texans from the sticks tell stories like this. And it looks like more than a couple of us moved to Brooklyn. Great find!
posted by thankyoujohnnyfever at 9:40 AM on April 1, 2009


When I submitted my story, I got an email back quickly from Nathan, the editor that he would be posting it sometime next week. I said that I suspected as much, since things were already pretty Texas-centric on there, and we don't want people thinking that all we've got in Texas is steers and queers, right?

Then I wondered which the state exports more of...
posted by greekphilosophy at 9:43 AM on April 1, 2009


And I'm from Beaumont, Texas. When I was in my early 20s in Austin I worked a toll-free help line for gay and transgendered teens. It was not that long ago, 1988-1993 or so, but these kids were SO isolated in ways those of us under 25 truly can't begin to imagine now. Suicide calls were a weekly occurrence. I can't tell you what a huge difference the interweb made for these kids. Thanks, Al Gore!
posted by pomegranate at 12:33 PM on April 1, 2009


This is such a great idea for a project, and my friend I sent it to pointed out that the images with each post are maybe actual satellite photos of the towns from google earth/maps.

I noticed at the bottom the categories are states, and there's only

* Arizona
* California
* Kentucky
* New Jersey
* New York
* Tennessee
* Texas

I'm from Northville, MI.
posted by polexa at 4:15 PM on April 1, 2009


Echoing pomegranate, I volunteered in the 80's, at probably the same Austin toll free line where she worked (I'm betting it was the same one), and the web has made such a difference. The isolation, while not gone, has certainly been lifted a little. I know what my gay and transgender friends went through growing up in the 70's and 80's, and it was gawdawful in so many areas. The calls that came in were heartbreaking.

I hope this site gets a lot of traction, and I'm going to do my part to spread the meme around.
posted by dejah420 at 4:55 PM on April 1, 2009


excellent post. plan to share wide.
posted by hooptycritter at 5:08 PM on April 1, 2009


That Glasgow story. Ouch.

I'm from Toronto, Canada.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 8:56 PM on April 1, 2009


Life goes easy on me now, but it might not have been so had I not left town for college.

I'm from Ripley, WV.
posted by wg at 8:40 AM on April 3, 2009


My brother wrote the Kingsport TN story.
posted by josher71 at 11:22 AM on April 3, 2009


My story was posted today. :)

I'm from Galveston, TX.
posted by greekphilosophy at 10:18 AM on April 6, 2009


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