My life used to be a very diverse mix. My first diverse mix was in art school in NC. But, things were pretty open with the crowd I ran with in college in TN; most of my friends were fashion or art students. We lost track of each other after graduating. Then, after I married, we had a café in MO and built another diverse mix – who, again, we lost touch with after we closed the café and moved back to NC to be near my grandparents.

These days, I'm pretty isolated. I'm practically homebound due to my health. It's pretty much just my husband and my son. My church is inclusive, but I haven't been since the Pandemic hit.

But, my son and his girlfriend have a really diverse mix of friends. He spent his last four years in an exceptionally open high school for NC. It was a magnate school offering both a STEM academy and an HSCA. My son and his girlfriend came out of the HSCA. And, since he was 15 years old, my son's been running a game studio which is about to launch their product; more than half of his employees and contractors identify in one way or another as LGBTQIA.