How One Nonprofit Is Looking to Help Estranged LGBTQ+ People
Seth Forbes first became estranged from one side of her family at 13. By 27, she was estranged from the other. Her experiences with estrangement led her to found the nonprofit Together Estranged, a group that provides services to adults who are estranged.While many LGBTQ+ people become disconnected from their families because of their sexuality or gender identity, estrangement can happen for a variety of reasons.
That’s something that Forbes, the executive director of Together Estranged, wants people to know.“A lot of people don't want to talk about it, but it is everywhere,” Forbes tells The Advocate. “Estrangement is not an all-or-nothing experience: There are many varying levels of estrangement.”Those levels can range from complete estrangement to only small amounts affable of contact.Forbes says she experienced estrangement first as a young teen when she became estranged from half of her family after she was sexually abused.
She experienced it again before 27 because of her queerness.“I was sexually assaulted by a family member when I was 13, and the family that I was living with — because my parents were divorced — they did not believe me,” Forbes says. “They basically blamed me and shamed me for what happened, and I no longer felt safe in that environment.”That’s when she moved across the country to live with her dad. “As I got older, I actually found out that I was gay, and that's when I realized that my dad and his side of the family just couldn't accept that part of me.”Motivated by her estranged relationships, Forbes started Together Estranged in 2021. “It was a really earth-shattering experience for me over the years — to lose so many people.
