Rachel

“I just want to trust my feelings, and trust that my feelings are okay. I want to let myself feel the way that I feel with Riley. Like I'm an okay person—even a good one. That I'm loved and lovely the way I am, and that it's not a sin to feel happy and to love without reservation. I'm not sure where God and I will end up, but I know that I only want to be friends with God if God is... different than I've been taught. If I come back to God after all this and find that God is a kinder, more loving presence than the one I've known, great. And if God is more loving than I've been taught, then I think God would be okay with me needing some time to untangle this. I think God would want me to feel a shred of happiness. That is the impression I'm getting from all this prayer and meditation. And for once, I'm going to trust myself and my feelings.”
― Natalie Naudus, Gay the Pray Away

“She existed outside of her life and she knew it. When faced with danger, she couldn't even shout. She barely heard a word people said, too busy making her face appear eager, nodding her head, and saying, "How interesting.”
― Nina LaCour, Yerba Buena

“When you follow your dreams, you give others the allowance to follow theirs.”
― Rebecca Tinker, Who in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?

“It's funny, I've always been told that peace comes through Christ. That leaving or letting go of my faith would lead only to guilt and sadness. But here I am, finding the truest joy I've ever known in all the places I was told not to look. Finding the deepest peace in 'sin'. Finding the purest belonging in leaving.”
― Natalie Naudus, Gay the Pray Away