Roar - Georgetown Book I - Prologue. Dedication

At fifteen CJ Abelló is exiled from his home in Miami because of his sexual orientation and sent to live in Washington, D.C. with his gay father and his father’s wealthy partner. Over the next few years, CJ flourishes in his new home thanks to the love and guidance provided by the two men and their group of friends. He is nearing graduation from School Without Walls High School, ready to begin his freshman year at Georgetown University, and volunteering in the 2016 presidential campaign.

CJ’s story is fiction; his plight is not. Every year countless young men and women are tossed aside by family, friends, church, and others who should be protecting them. All because they do not conform to the norms of heterosexual society. They become homeless, turn to drugs, prostitution, and other criminal activity in order to survive. Many lose their lives, often at their own hands.

In memory of those no longer with us and in honor of those who have survived, I dedicate this story. To those unwanted, downtrodden, and often forgotten individuals, I say it gets better.