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Chely Wright: Out and loud
LIKE ME® Founder, Chely Wright was interviewed by Hannah Clay Wareham of Bay Windows. Read what she had to say about our organization.
BW: We’ve heard a lot about celebrities offering support for LGBT youth. Can you tell me about the LIKE ME Organization?
CW: After I was out and kind of doing my book tour and doing shows, I noticed there were fans that were wearing plain white t-shirts and writing things on the shirts themselves, you know, “Chely, thank you for being like me,” and just writing, “Like me” on the shirts and I thought, Well, isn’t that great? I just figured they were all gay or LGBT folks. One young man came through the autograph line and I asked him, “How long have you been out?” And he said, “I’m not gay.” And I said, “Well, you have ’Like me’ on your shirt.” And he said, “Well, I loved your book. I wanted to get your attention in the audience and I wore this shirt. I really loved your book. I read it and I identified with so much of it — being from a small town, having the dream of being a musician, but I’m not gay.” And I said, “Oh, okay.” And I got to thinking, wouldn’t it be neat if we identified with one another and looked at the ways that we’re similar as a people, rather than ways that we’re different? And I really liked his style, I really liked that about him. So I started brainstorming with my friends with whom I’d started another organization ten years ago. And I said, you know, there’s really something to this. This is resonating with people. We started LIKE ME and began with an online forum where perhaps a mom with a gay child, she could find a place to find another mom with a gay child, and she could correspond with them online. Perhaps a gay guy in the military could find another gay guy in the military and they could talk about a shared experience, and find other people like them. I was thinking about raising a lot of dollars, and ultimately building an LGBT center in Kansas City, which is my hometown, and there isn’t actually an LGBT center there, so we’re going to build the first brick and mortar LGBT center there in Kansas City.
You can read the entire interview at www.baywindows.com