You can find my Coming Out hypertext project on this site. (NB. The project will display in a new browser window.) I've been wondering how to make use of my teenage diary writings for some time. I thought I might edit the diaries and write a book, and then my interest in web design encouraged me to see how I could build on those words and experiences in another way.

Why do I think it is important to share my story?

I know how much fear and guilt and anxiety and confusion I went through in working out my feelings of loving women and coming to terms with my sexuality. As a young teenager, it was an isolating and difficult experience much of the time; but when I found references to other young lesbians, or met someone whom I thought could understand me (even the tiniest bit), there were moments of real excitement. I was pleased to be different. I just wanted to know I wasn't alone.

The lack of first-hand accounts by young lesbians and gay men - and particularly young lesbians - has influenced how I want to represent my story and why. I collect examples of writing by LGBT ^* youth - this may be autobiographies, essays, fictionalised accounts, or personal narratives with commentary from social scientists. What affects me most is when I experience the person coming through; when they tell their own story.

I didn't want to fictionalise my experiences. There is an immediacy to those diary entries which I wouldn't be able to re-capture in retrospect. There are times when the teenager can only speak for herself. And so she does in this project. But this is also a project that is only possible because of where I am now. It is inevitably framed by my adult experience and knowledge.

Alan Helms made a strong statement in his memoir (Young man from the provinces: a gay life before Stonewall, New York: Avon Books, 1995):

"We have few gifts of importance to give one another: our love and acceptance, our forgiveness, the stories of our lives. Learning to listen to other people's stories may be one of the few things that can help us survive these intolerant times."

Those two sentences may say it all.

These are reasons why I write and create.

My own coming out story - what I call a "hypertext project" here - isn't yet a finished piece, but I hope you will begin the journey with me.

^* LGBT refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender