© 2024 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Coming Out Is Twice the Surprise For One Man's Mom

Texas Public Radio
Julian Ledesma says he's also known as THE drag queen photographer in San Antonio.

When the StoryCorpsMobile Tour came to San Antonio recently to collect personal stories to be archived at the Library Of Congress, it was a chance for Julian Ledesma to share with his best friend, Michelle Dueñas, the story of the unusual way his family learned he was gay.  

"My sister and I created this forceful, loving bond and didn’t fight because we had a difficult childhood. We were just trying to figure out what we were going to eat that day." 

Still just a child, Ledesma knew he was gay. But it was when his sister told their mother that she was a lesbian that their mother guessed Julian was also gay. 

"My sister was a singer and in charge of the choir at church, I was in charge of the theater. When we came out, we were asked by the church to not return and to give up our positions. And we were asked not to return.

"My mother stopped talking to us. The church kicked us out.  And we had to figure out where to go from there."

Eileen Pace is a veteran radio and print journalist with a long history of investigative and feature reporting in San Antonio and Houston, earning more than 50 awards for investigative reporting, documentaries, long-form series, features, sports stories, outstanding anchoring and best use of sound.