+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
More

Her parents knew coming out can be scary, so they threw her the best party ever.

Coming out is hard. Having supportive parents makes it much easier.

After 17-year-old Kinsey came out to her parents, they decided they wanted to do something special for her to show her just how much she means to them.

Coming out can be a stressful and daunting task, no matter how easygoing your friends and family might seem.

Photo via @kinseyratzman/Instagram, used with permission.

Aside from being a teenager who had just come out to her parents, Kinsey also suffers from a debilitating medical condition called gastroparesis, which affects how she digests food. Like many conditions that occur in the stomach, it gets worse when the afflicted person is overly stressed.

To celebrate such a huge, stressful weight being lifted off their daughter's shoulders, Kinsey's parents decided to throw her a surprise pride coming out party.

"I decided to throw the party for Kinsey because I wanted her to know that her family loves her and we are 100% behind her," Allison, Kinsey's mom, said.

"We are hopeful that her coming out will help to alleviate some of her stress so she can lead a healthier life as she enters her senior year in high school," Allison told Upworthy.

To keep the party for Kinsey a surprise, her parents told her it was an early Fourth of July party and sent her to the mall with her cousin while they got everything ready.

"My extended family wasn't sure if Kinsey would appreciate the party or be embarrassed, but her father and I were pretty confident that she would appreciate the thought," Allison told Upworthy.

The house was decked out with rainbow decorations, rainbow food (all vegan for Kinsey), and the pièce de résistance, a cake that had an Independence Day-theme on the outside but hidden rainbow layers on the inside.

Photo via @kinseyratzman/Instagram, used with permission.

When Kinsey walked in the door, Allison says it was hard to read her expression at first.

"I sensed her confusion since she was expecting an Independence Day themed party," Allison told Upworthy.

"But as she noticed the rainbow pasta, rainbow grilled veggies, and rainbow fruit salad on the table, I could see the smile spread across her face."

"I had no idea," Kinsey told Upworthy, "because we often get together with family around July Fourth time, so I didn't think much of it. But we came home and they were all there, my parents, my brother, my aunt and her entire family, and my grandparents. I didn't even have makeup on or anything!"

Needless to say, Kinsey was blown away by the surprise. You can tell because she posted photos of it on Twitter and Instagram, places where teens only post things that are truly awesome.

In sharing her excitement and openness about the coming out party online, Kinsey sparked a second, virtual pride party.

Thousands of people have liked the pictures of Kinsey's surPRIDE party (as her cousin nicknamed it). She's received tons of supportive comments and messages from other people admitting their own fears about coming out to their families.




The responses were overwhelmingly positive, and Kinsey was thrilled to receive them, and of course the surPride in general, especially in light of the Pulse shooting in Orlando in June.

"I think a pivotal moment was when my mom and I were touring colleges in Massachusetts a few weeks ago," Kinsey said. "In North Hampton, we went to a vigil for Orlando; we just happened upon it. That was pretty moving for both of us."

While Kinsey's coming out process ended up being an overwhelmingly positive experience, she wasn't always sure it would go the way it did.

"They actually asked me [if I was gay]," Kinsey told Upworthy. "We basically had a long conversation, and then they gave me a big hug."

Kinsey says she recognizes that not everyone who decides to come out to their family is as fortunate as she is, and with that in mind, she doesn't want others to measure their story to hers.

"I wasn't positive [my parents would] be OK with it. I knew they were OK with the LGBT community, but firsthand experiences are always different," Kinsey explained.

Kinsey hopes her story will be a light to those who are struggling with the decision to come out.

"I do hope that it brings some hope and light to the community. But you do have to take into consideration your own situation because everyone's going to have different reactions," Kinsey told Upworthy.

There is a great web of support out there in the community, even for those who might not find it in their own homes. And just remember, if you're planning on coming out anytime soon — your coming out experience doesn't have to come with rainbow Independence-Day-themed cake to be special. But it certainly doesn't hurt.

Badge
Graduate Theological Union
Graduate Theological Union
Education

Experts of science and religion come together to talk psychedelics in a free online series

Image courtesy of GTUx

In depth conversations held by experts and scholars. All at no cost.

True

We are living in a renaissance of psychedelic research, no doubt about it…particularly when it comes to medical treatment. Psilocybin and MDMA are being used to alleviate depression and post traumatic stress disorder. Ayahuasca retreats continue to become more popular as healing centers. Even my go-to yoga spot now offers a “Microdose Flow Night.” What a time to be alive.

And yet, as plant medicine makes its way back into the mainstream of our modern world, traditional spiritual wisdom often seems to get lost, even dismissed, from the conversation. But what if there were a way to blend new and old ways of thinking?

psychedelics, psychedelics and religion, gtuxAll images courtesy of GTUx

Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a world leader in the study of religion and theology. Their new virtual learning program, GTUx, is a is a vibrant home for the exploration of spirituality and activism through online learning opportunities, all inspired by experts of spiritual, ethical, cultural and social fields.

GTUx recently launched “Psychedelics and Religion”—a first-of-its-kind online program that explores the inherent (but often overlooked) relationship between spirituality and science in hallucinogens. Plus, it’s completely free to sign up.

Psychedelics and Religion Part I | gtu.edu/xwww.youtube.com

GTUx’s “Psychedelics and Religion, Part 1” has nine easy-to-watch modules offering in-depth conversations from leading scholars in both religious and medical fields, including Michael Pollan, Celina De Leon, Ayize Jama-Everett, and many others.

The content is practical for a general audience, and particularly for those interested in using plant medicine in holistic ways.

Brian Anderson, Assistant Clinical Professor at UCSF General Hospital, and one of the GTUx speakers considers it paramount to incorporate spiritual knowledge from ancient practices into the medical use of psychedelics. This is important even if the person taking these substances doesn’t label themselves as religious.

“Survey data suggests that people who identified as atheist or agnostic after having a high dose psychedelic experience might change…having some form of new spiritual beliefs or convictions that they did not have before. This is something I've certainly seen in a number of people,” he shared with Upworthy.

Clinical settings generally lack frameworks to better understand these profound experiences in what many might call the “mystical” realm. It’s sort of like being dropped into a brand new country without a map or translator.

Religious scholars, however, are fluent in mystical language. Dr. Sam Shonkoff, Taube Family Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies at the GTU, and panel leader, hopes that their contribution might reinstill a sense of “awe” into our modern view of psychedelics, in the fullest sense of the term.

“There's a really desperate need to slow down and think carefully and critically about what it means to tap into these very powerful substances that are associated with very rich cultural traditions and to not take that lightly,” he explained.


gtux psychedlics and religionDr. Sam Shonkoff, Taube Family Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies at the GTU

“I think that people who study the histories and phenomenologies of religion and spirituality are importantly situated to help us think more carefully and critically about where we are and where we're going in relation to psychedelics.”

Participants of “Psychedelics and Religion” will learn about psychedelics in relation to mysticism, mental health, and chaplaincy, and how to better integrate their profound transformational experiences into everyday life. By the end of the program, they might discover that when it comes to plant medicine, science and spirituality actually do complement one another.

Part 1 of this free online offering is already available, which you can check out by clicking here. It's guaranteed to be a good trip.

From Your Site Articles
mental health
Pop Culture

Drew Barrymore's unbridled joy over simple things holds a lesson for us all

Her zest for life is infectious.

@boyinquestion/Twitter

Drew Barrymore's joy is contagious.

Drew Barrymore's enthusiasm for the simple things is adorable, but it's even more delightful when you know what she's experienced in her life.

The actress got her start as a young child actor in the 1980s in films such as "E.T." and "Firestarter" and has had quite an extraordinary journey. Her struggles with drug addiction started at a startlingly young age, getting her blacklisted in Hollywood at the age of 12 due to her marijuana and cocaine habits. Her issues with her mother, who institutionalized Barrymore at 13 and from whom Barrymore emancipated herself at age 14, have also been well documented.

Barrymore, now 47, has come a long way since then. She has managed to repair her relationship with her mother, free herself from drug addiction and give up alcohol completely as well. She has two children of her own, a successful production company, a cruelty-free makeup line, a few books under belt and her own talk show.

Keep ReadingShow less
Science

Watching this UK meteorologist interview next to a scene from 'Don't Look Up' is chilling

Climate change denialism really is absurd.

@benphillips76/Twitter

A British meteorologist tries to convince a news anchor that the heat wave is serious.

The U.K. has officially shattered its all-time high-temperature record in the heat wave that's sweeping across Europe. On July 19, the Associated Press reported that the U.K. Met Office weather agency had registered a provisional reading of 40.3 C (104.5 F). The previous record set in 2019 was 38.7 C (101.7 F), nearly three degrees cooler.

For context, normal high temps in the U.K. in July hover around 20 C (high 60s to low 70s F).

Everyone knew the heat wave was coming. In the week prior, social media was filled with tips for staying cool—both genuine and joking—as well as far too many comments writing off Brits as wimps for not being able to handle the heat. As a British TikTok user explained during last year's heat wave, the British Isles do not have the infrastructure for 90 or 100-degree temperatures. Their buildings are designed to retain heat, not repel it. Air conditioning is rare. Humidity makes the heat even more oppressive. And people simply aren't physically conditioned for it, accustomed as their bodies are to moderate temperatures.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pop Culture

Jon Stewart’s hilariously savage 3-minute rant against Chicago-style pizza never gets old

“It’s not pizza, it’s a casserole."

via Foix Productions/YouTube

Jon Stewart's rant against Chicago-style pizza.

In late 2013, the cities of New York and Chicago were embroiled in a feud over which one had the taller building. At the time, Chicago’s Willis Tower was the tallest skyscraper in the country, but it was challenged by the newly built One World Trade Center in Manhattan.

The One World Trade Center building was erected in the footprint of the World Trade Center.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat determined that the One World Trade Center building was taller because it had a spire on top that was part of the building's permanent architecture. Whereas the Willis Building was topped with antennae deemed to be a nonpermanent part of the structure.


Keep ReadingShow less
jon stewart
Trending Stories