Dusty Amans
East Marshall High School

As I was growing up, I was always called a “fag” and “queer”. The verbal abuse I had endured, led me to leave my high school and re-enroll in a different district my freshman year. Everything went fine until my sophomore year. I was still being taunted and was driven to commit suicide. I finally came to terms with myself and took off the mask I had been hiding behind all my life. I came out to my friends and was met with love and understanding.

When I came out to my mother it was a different story. After a month of feuding, I was told that I was not welcome to return home. I was homeless, couch-surfing between friends, for four months. When I turned 18 in January, I was placed in a Youth and Shelter Services Transitional Living program, where I still reside.

I don’t know where I would be if it weren’t for the resources I have had available to me and the people I have met along my journey. I gained a lot of my motivation to carry on from my friends, the Gay-Straight alliance (GSA) I participated in, and the Iowa Pride Network. Because of them, I know that I am not alone. I am currently starting a GSA in my own school and hope to educate others in the future and use what I have learned to positively affect my community.