Michelle Bamber knew as a small child that she liked girls.

“As a small child I loved Disney movies like Aladdin and The Lion King and I knew that I wanted to be Aladdin or Simba and not Jasmine or Nala. I wanted to have big adventures and win over the girl, not be the girl who gets rescued.”

After struggling for years to reconcile her feelings, Michelle first came out as bisexual. She told a few close friends, but later realized that she really wasn’t interested in guys.

Coming out again, this time as lesbian, she confided in her best friend who shrugged and responded she wondered when Michelle was going to tell her.

Over time all of her friends and classmates learned that Michelle was gay but she still hadn’t told her parents.

They were taken aback when Michelle came out to them but have made strides to come to a common understanding.

Michelle leads in promoting acceptance of LGBT people by living “Out, Loud and Proud”.

She has served on the Executive Board of the Cedar Falls High School Gay Straight Alliance planning meetings, trips and activities.

With Michelle’s leadership, her GSA has lobbied state legislators for marriage equality and acquired new ideas and information at the Iowa Pride Network’s GSA conference and the Governor’s Conference on LGBT Youth.

She has also taken an active role with the Cedar Falls High School Marching Band, Speech Team, Jazz Band and the Tennis and Bowling Teams.

Student activism remains a top priority as Michelle enters college. She plans to seek leadership roles with the GLBTAU in Iowa City and fight for marriage equality by lending her energy to One Iowa. She will attend the University of Iowa.

“I am Swarnima Chaudhary. I am gay. I am East Indian.”

The two made for a sticky combination, and the conversation was tough when Swarnima came out to her parents.

Wanting to love their daughter just as before, but struggling to reconcile with cultural differences, her parents were torn on how to react.

“All eyes were on me. The implications of me speaking up were monumental. To show that I had strong opinions against the insults towards gays and lesbians was setting myself up for a long road ahead.”

Swarnima found solace with the West High School Gay Straight Alliance COLORS. Meetings empowered and inspired confidence in her.

Coming out to her classmates her freshman year was the next step and COLORS gave her the strength that she needed.

Swarnima then began to fight for her rights. She started speaking to teachers and at faculty meetings, describing the need for acknowledgement and support of LGBT students.

She organized three Day of Silences successfully at her high school, conveying the silence of so many others, their frustrations and hurt.

It hasn’t been all silence. Statewide conferences and lobbying efforts have drawn out Swarnima’s voice.

She’s taken leading roles in the Iowa Pride Network’s Gay Straight Alliance Conference, lobbying efforts at the Iowa Statehouse and the Governor’s Conference on LGBT Youth.

Swarnima’s leadership also influenced students elsewhere. She led students at Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School in planning No-Name Calling Week, spoke on hate crimes and provided historical background information.

Swarnima plans to remain a champion for LGBT rights in college. She intends to retain leadership roles with the Iowa Pride Network and seek new ones with the GLBTAU in Iowa City. She will attend the University of Iowa.

“There I was with a piece of paper, a marker and a heart that needed pouring out.”

Corey Cox sat with his friend Julie after a basketball game, searching for the courage to come out. He was on the verge of telling her several times, but instead wrote her a note, gave her a hug and left the game.

After a weekend of not knowing her reaction, he was greeted Monday with a hug, and all of her support. Corey felt unstoppable.

He turned to other friends and began to come out to each of them. Each time, the announcement got easier and easier until it was time to confide in his parents.

Corey again wrote his secret on paper, this time for his mother. He placed it in her room and then retrieved it several times before finally allowing it to be discovered.

His parents reiterated their support and declared he was still their son, filling Corey with a sense of relief and building on the momentum he found with his friends.

Some classmates weren’t as accepting as his friends had been. Verbal abuse began and rumors began to spread.

Corey channeled his hurt and anger and started a Gay Straight Alliance at Burlington High School and gradually classmates’ fear turned to acceptance at his school and in his community.

The GSA soon took to task the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity as part of Burlington’s non-discrimination policy. The School Board delayed the change until the GSA began a petition to change the policy, which lead to school board passage.

Politics has also played a pivotal role in Corey’s high school career. Traveling to Des Moines, he has lobbied legislators for extending LGBT rights; in his hometown he was a lead supporter of the Obama for America campaign, spending countless hours with the campaign.

Corey plans to retain his leadership status as he moves into organizations like the GLBTAU and the LGBT Resource Center in Iowa City. He will attend the University of Iowa.

Coming out was a gradual process that afforded Aaron Jennings new friendships along the way.

He was unsure about how his friends and community would react to news about his sexual orientation and started by coming out to several friends slowly.

He was introduced to a classmate who was also LGBT and would become a close friend as Aaron began coming out to others.

Aaron had held off telling his parents he was bisexual, but they soon questioned him. He told them his secret and they continued to love him.

At school he organized events like the Day of Silence and launched a Safe Space Program for Des Moines Lincoln High School.

He also embraced key roles with the Lincoln High School Key Club and Student Council.

Aaron plans to seek out leadership roles with LGBT organizations and work for equal rights. He will attend Des Moines Area Community College.

Brent Kennedy overcame extreme personal adversity when coming out.

“I did amazingly well freshman year until I realized that I was gay. I knew the more different I was in society, the more I would be harassed.”

Struggling with his sexual orientation, Brent attempted to force himself to be straight.

Unable to change who he was, Brent dropped out of high school for two semesters.

He soon found the courage to come out and reentered school, catching up on three semesters of delayed academic work in one year.

He has served as a role model, demonstrating a strong work ethic while reaching out to other gay teens and always showing his pride as a LGBT community member.

Brent plans to continue as a resource for other LGBT teens and work with programs and resources for them. He will attend Kirkwood Community College.

“I am not opposed to homosexuality; of course, I may be biased.”

Briana McGeough began a letter to herself with that important, but unsettling, revelation as a high school freshman.

She wouldn’t open the letter for another four years, but that self-discovery would continue to unfold.

“I don’t think the people I want to have intimate relationships with are anatomically appropriate for procreation.”

Briana McGeough’s coming out statement to her mother was more of a puzzle than a declaration. After processing the words, Briana’s mother moved on to process and accept the concept.

She next turned to her brother, who embraced her with a hug upon hearing the news. He had waited for her to tell him.

Briana’s classmates found out shortly thereafter. She was defending an editorial written in support of the anti-bullying bill, which was winding its way through the Iowa Legislature.

Her editorial criticizing the way a neighboring district was handling the harassment of a lesbian student led to criticism directed at Briana, and her editorial themes and personal life began to intertwine. It wasn’t long until she was out to everyone.

However, Briana was fully engaged in LGBT activism long before coming out. While researching a project on marriage equality she learned of the Day of Silence and met a supportive LGBTA community in her junior high.

She went on to join the Gay Straight Alliance at Cedar Falls High School and then led the organization as part of its Executive Board.

Briana has presented workshops for other LGBT youth at GSA Conferences and participated in community panels all while staying at the top of her class with a 4.0 GPA.

Briana plans to build on these years of LGBT activism as she enters college and hopes to help make great strides with marriage equality. She will attend Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

“If nobody will do it, I will.”

Perseverance has lead Ben Schnurr to get involved and make a difference. Troubled by inequality and intolerance impacting students at his high school, Ben co-founded and later led the Johnston Gay Straight Alliance.

His commitment didn’t stop at the classroom. Volunteering over fifty hours for the Iowa Pride Network and additional hours with One Iowa, he has always sought avenues to help others and create change in the world.

Coming out was a question Ben faced early in life.

“My classmates were asking if I was gay by the second grade. I came out to myself in the sixth grade.”

Ben still felt pressured to come out but also felt unsafe. He was sexually and verbally harassed in locker rooms. Over the years the bantering stopped and the harassment eventually ended.

Ben’s plans for leadership include launching a Gay Straight Alliance at his college, seeking a leadership role with the Iowa Pride Network and working with other LGBT organizations. He will attend Des Moines Area Community College.

Kaitlin Walker came out to a few close friends in middle school and it wasn’t long until word spread, leaving her under the microscope of her classmates.

Left with only a handful of friends she felt isolated and alone. Kaitlin was lost and needed to turn to her parents for support.

Nervous about the outcome, she wrote a note telling her parents that she was gay. 

“When I got home I was welcomed with hugs even though I refused to take my dirt-bike helmet off (it was my way of hiding).

While her parents were warm and accepting, classmates continued to harass her.

As Kaitlin started her sophomore year, derogatory words and notes were written on and placed in her locker but they did not stop her from starting a Gay Straight Alliance.

Community reaction mirrored that of Kaitlin’s peers. Multiple papers across Dallas County printed letters of anger about the GSA.

Kaitlin was able to use the GSA to reduce the level of homophobia at Adel-DeSoto-Minburn High School and her community.

Efforts were doubled when she brought the GSA and Students Against Destructive Decisions together for awareness campaigns.

“I feel that Gay Rights should not be put on a back-burner and forgotten along with those who are of a different race, underprivileged or disabled.”

Kaitlin also networked with well-established Gay Straight Alliances to generate programming ideas for meetings.

She also helped organize a Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless with the Hoover High School Gay Straight Alliance.

Graduating from high school early, Kaitlin statted work on a sign language interpreting degree.

Kaitlin plans to further the fight for LGBT rights as she begins college in Ames and finishes an interpreting degree at Des Moines Area Community College. She will attend Iowa State University.