Shame weighs a lot more than flesh and bone.

I was trying to find a reason for having had to escape from the place that was my home. To convince myself of my choices, I had to make it a place that everyone should want to escape from.

I justified it in so many ways. I had a very, very long and difficult struggle with my sexuality.

She'd tell me how she'd handle the backhanded compliment by smiling and pretending she was receiving a genuine compliment all the while ignoring their attempt to be insulting. After all, it's the way an insult is received that makes it an insult. You can't really give offense unless someone takes it.

In high school I had sex with girls quite a few times. They were straight women who I convinced to jump in the sack with me.

Normal" isn't an adjective you wish to hear after putting that much effort into making sure it was spectacular.

I thought that if I accomplished enough, that somehow I would be let off the hook in the future. Like I didn’t have to keep striving and achieving because I had done that already, and it would add up to being enough.