Profile 2

Name: Evelyn Thomas

Age: 64

Hometown: St. Petersburg, Fla.

Evelyn Thomas lives with her partner Carol Stone, 67, in Pinellas Park, Fla., a condominium community with older residents.

Thomas and her partner of 12 years are originally from New York. When she first moved to the South, it felt a bit hostile.

“Most of my friends are still in the closet. They don’t want to make any waves,” Thomas said. “We have neighbors who are in their 80s and have been together for 50 years and they are still in the closet.”

It’s been 30 years since Thomas came out. The former housewife with four children broke the news to her husband and consequently lost custody of her children. Thomas said she was forced to make the toughest decision in her life: to be honest about who she was, or maintain the lie and retain custody of her children.

“My biggest regret was not being able to keep custody of my kids. In those days being gay was enough reason to lose your children,” she said.

But her husband was accepting and eventually let her back into the lives of her children.

Although Thomas is content with her public image, her partner still struggles with displaying affection in their neighborhood.

“I love to dance,” she said. “But my partner is uncomfortable in public.”