2026 – Kedric Ward – Union High School HS

Living in Fear and Isolation as a Non-Straight Person in a Rural Town

I know I haven’t been straight for many years now. Learning to accept that was hard. There was a strong religious belief. That changed my belief on who I am. I see people look at me like a monster or something of a mistake. That isn’t even the hardest part of it all. Being in public areas and being called many slurs or other offensive things. Dealing with that for years has been mentally exhausting and made simple things hard to deal with. Just taking a walk in a park lot and not getting called a slur was a winning day. I learned quickly I could do hard academic work and I went into a more mature space and got more respect through leadership opportunities. This helped me to move away from the people that were hurting. Just with a move of habit/mindset. It has helped me succeed, but I still have bad days and I still have good days and I’ll never change. That’s just a part of living life.