My mother, of course. Now I realize she did the best she could and I appreciate her much more than in the past.
My 6th grade teacher, Miss Shupp. I think she was probably a lesbian, though of course I never knew for sure. I don't remember a lick of any subject she taught, but she encouraged me to follow anything I wanted to do.
All the women from another site (that actually didn't have anything to do with being gay) who told me their stories and supported me when I realized that I'd been gay all along.
My first girlfriend,who taught me that when you come to a wall, you can either climb it, go around it, dig under it, or sit on your ass in front of it. It was my choice.
And a woman-to-be, my daughter
. She's smarter than I am in ways, and I enjoy hearing her thoughts on life.