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We're all searching for acceptance and love, and we all need support.

But not everyone gets that luxury.

When thing your grandmother had asked me to do when we separated was, please never tell the children.

My older sister said I was going to hell.

She just knew I was going to hell because the Bible said I was going to hell.

In this episode, we'll hear conversations from queer folks across generations,

and how two older gay men ultimately resisted the pressure to hide themselves.

We usually lean on our elders for wisdom and support,

but in this story, it's the other way around.

It's the Storycore podcast from NPR. I'm Camille Cushione.

Tony Perry grew up in Niagara Falls, New York in the 1950s.

Back when being gay was known about, but not talked about.

He was from a big Italian family, raised at a vet Catholic,

so he kept his sexuality to himself.

In 2009, he shared his story with his grandson, Jeffrey.

I knew at a very young age about six or seven years old that I was different,

didn't have a name for it.

I remember when I was about 17, I went to Confesson, told a priest that I thought there was something a little different to me

...