Coming Out

This Sunday, Oct. 11, is National Coming Out Day a formal signpost for openness and honesty on the calendar page that's Gay History Month. The symbol: A closet-busting figure by the late social activist and street artist Keith Haring Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Mazel tov!

For a nice Jewish girl, a discovery and well wishes

By BOB SKOLNIK

A few weeks into her freshman year at Oberlin College, 19-year-old Rebekah Levin developed a crush on a woman about 10 years older. "I was crushed out on someone," says Levin, now 52. She had never dated anyone, boy or girl, as a student at Oak Park and River Forest High School. Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The T in LGBT

For a transgender person, coming out can be a double whammy

By ANDREA MIKENAS and HELEN KARAKOUDAS

When I was first called the word 'lesbian,' I had to go look it up. Then I thought, 'Huh, I guess that's right.' " Matter of fact and positive, Kerry is a survivor of two coming out stories, different and a decade apart. As a teen, he was outed by kids at school. They called him on being a butchy girl. Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Sooner and stronger

Growing support means less time in the closet

By NICHOLAS MORONI

Jonathan Allen, a graphic arts student at Columbia College, came out when he was 14. He was a freshman at Oak Park and River Forest High School. "When I figured it out, it didn't make any sense to stay in the closet," Allen, now 19, says. "I knew my friends would be OK with it. ... Coming out to my parents and my older brother was a bit intimidating." Tuesday, October 13, 2009

'Everyone knows we're gay'

At Two Fish, the news was slow only for Hardacker and Hart

By BOB SKOLNIK

Soon after she graduated from high school, Cecilia Hardacker started drinking. Heavily. There was the pressure of being in nursing school, the youngest in her class. And there was the worry that something about her feelings for girls was different from what was expected in Omaha, Neb. Tuesday, October 13, 2009