I can pinpoint precisely when I became pro-LGBT. The summer I turned 12.

[LWolf]

1. I remember, too. I was also about 12.

A very dear family friend, an "aunt" ( I didn't have actual aunts or uncles or cousins or siblings, but this woman adopted me, and I her, as family) jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. I learned then that she was a lesbian, and simply couldn't cope with her closeted self, or her loneliness. My mom, her friend, had opened our hearts and lives to her. Too many others did not.

She was smart, beautiful, and a gifted artist. She was kind, loving, and fun. And she was gone.

I have carried her in my heart for 4.5 decades now, and have never truly forgiven those who made her feel so desperate to stop the pain as to take that last step.