photo by Kevin Truong
photo by Kevin Truong
photo by Kevin Truong
photo by Kevin Truong
photo by Kevin Truong
photo by Kevin Truong
photo by Kevin Truong
Austin, in his own words: “As a gay Latino, I’ve experienced many feelings regarding my gay identity: fear, excitement, uncertainty, comfort, loathing, and loving (sometimes, all at the same time). My experiences have propelled me into a place of acceptance, and fuel my desire for equality. An important foundation for advocacy and staying strong is to never stop fighting and dreaming for our goals:
“”[We] all dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous [people], for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.“”
T.E. Lawrence
Austin, I love you. I am so happy for you. I am proud of you. I believe in you.
So much love to all these men. As a Christian, I embrace you all. Keep being yourselves.
Dear Austin,
You are a mothers dream come true! My dreams have always been for you to be HAPPY, HEALTHY, SELF RELIANT, SAFE AND …. SURROUNDED BY LOVING FRIENDS! You have managed to do all this, your whole life, AND SO MUCH MORE! You never cease to amaze me! You truly are an inspiration Austin. I know I haven’t been very open with my feelings about you being gay, but I want you to know how very proud of you I am. To be as strong as you are and LIVE YOUR LIFE as a HAPPY, HEALTHY, SELF RELIANT and SAFE person, surrounding yourself with loving friends………… See? You ARE making my dreams come true! I’ve always told you that I wish I had a friend like you when I was growing up…. How did I get so blessed to actually have you for my son AND friend? You have taught me SO MUCH! I can honestly say, I look up to you. (not only because you are much taller than me…. Ha!) But because of your strength, determination, great personality, the wisdom you hold is way beyond your years…., the amazing relationship you and Larissa have (melts my heart), your intelligence (WOW), your zest for life, exploring, traveling, learning and growing….etc…….every single day of your entire life! I am so thankful for you Austin. You have made an extremely important difference in my life and I know with every new step you have taken in your journeys, you have made a difference in so many other lives as well. Thank you for being such an inspiration….. With all my love forever and always, Mom