Sound Effect

When Danny Cords’ parents learned he was gay, they took him to a conversion therapist.

“One of the first things he wanted to try to figure out was whether I was a top or a bottom, which, of course, are sexual positions,” Cords says. “And I was 14. I had no idea. I hadn’t had sex, so I didn’t know what to say and he wanted to figure it out. So it was incredibly uncomfortable.

Editor’s Note: This story originally ran as part of our new show, “Sound Effect,” which airs on Saturdays at 10 a.m.

“Smell that, Gabriel.”

Jon Preston waves a jumble of moss under my nose. It looks very much like a green wig. I oblige and breathe in a lungful of earthy air.

Editor’s Note: This story originally ran as part of our new show, “Sound Effect,” which airs on Saturdays at 10 a.m.

As a seventh grader, "Jennifer" lost count of the number of times she was suspended from school. Back then, she had an attitude and a big mouth and she wasn't going to mince words — even with her teachers.

"'Don't talk back to me,'" Jennifer remembered them saying. "And I'm like, 'I'm just being honest.'"

Over and over, different versions of this drama would play out in her classes. Sometimes teachers would kick her out for talking back. Sometimes Jennifer would get angry over some small thing and kick herself out of class.