Join us tonight: Stories from LGBT community

There is magic in a good story. It might be the anticipation or the surprise. Or it might be simply that we want to know things. That we need to know the people in front of us. That we want to say: Tell me something that matters to you, tell me your secrets, tell me your truth.

On Wednesday, The Enquirer will host its second StoryTellers event at The Phoenix. If this event is like the first, it is fair to say it will be remarkable. Actually, it might be better. From Jim Obergefell to Zay, the little girl who stole our heart.

On that January night, the newspaper and Cincinnati.com hosted a group of speakers to talk about how Cincinnati became their home.

David Falk was there. So was councilwoman Yvette Simpson, Molly Wellmann, James Marable, Jason Snell, Aftab Pureval and Kathy Y. Wilson. They all stepped forward to about about their love of place. How they found it and what it felt like.

It was a lovely evening. And more than 450 people showed up. People sat and listened. They also ate and drank and were merry at the Phoenix, a gorgeous building. But really it was listening.

Weeks later people were still talking about it. Connections were made and friendships were negotiated. It was a quiet night but it was an important night. And now we are going to do it again.

The theme for StoryTelling on Wednesday is finding love and acceptance — or not — in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Jim Obergefell will be there telling his story. Somehow this soft spoken Cincinnati realtor is at the center of a pastiche of politics and sexual identity and fairness and faith and tradition. Of love.

At the end of this month, Obergefell's name and marriage to his now deceased husband — a story we first brought you — will be in front of the United States Supreme Court. This could be the case that ultimately determines whether gay men and women in this country have a constitutional right to marry.

Yes, only that.

Wednesday night at 7, Obergefell will tell his story. Just him and a microphone and the people in the audience. All of them will be thinking: Tell me something that matters to you, tell me your secrets, tell me your truth.

And he will not be alone.

Tony Cody will be there too. He is better known as the single best drag queen in Cincinnati. His stage name is Penny. There is a second name too, but it is not safe for this newspaper. Her act is amazing. And funny, and a little raunchy. Sometimes very raunchy. But Penny is also building bridges in the LGBT community in Cincinnati. Penny's stage, the Cabaret, is a community center pretending to be a drag show. Cincinnati is better for having Penny. And Tony.

Darrick Beekman will tell us a story. Darrick has a very Ohio story. He grew up in the small town of Peebles, in a family he describes as conservative Christian. He grew up thinking he was attracted to members of the same sex, but he was sure it was wrong. He asked his parents for a Bionic Woman figurine when he was young, but he tried his hardest to conform. He met a nice girl, they had fun and he felt comfortable with her. He married and had children. When his wife died from liver disease, he started over again. Beekman moved to Cincinnati and found love and acceptance. He found his truth. Nothing came easy for Beekman, but he likes where he landed.

Professor Meredith Smith of Northern Kentucky University will tell us a story. If our speakers were to be categorized in groups, like the Beatles, Smith would be the "smart one." Smith is the co-director of the Women's and Gender Studies Program in the Department of History and Geography at NKU. She is also a gay woman, which would not normally be worth mentioning, but it is on this night. It seems that everybody in Northside has had dinner at her home at one point or another.

Ashley Brazil will stand in front of the microphone that night. Her story is less about the struggle of history and acceptance and overt segregation. Brazil grew up gay in California. When she moved to Cincinnati, her friends there had one question for her: Why? Brazil is young, her story comes from the perspective of standing on the shoulders of those who came before her.

Ryan Messer is well known in town. He is a political activist, he is involved in transportation and inclusion and Over-the-Rhine. And he is a businessman. He has a story about coming out that is awful and violent. His story is also about moving to Cincinnati and then away from it, and then back again. About making change and then being the change that he made. Now he is everywhere. And he is married to Jimmy Musuraca and the two of them have exciting news they are beginning to share. There is a story in there somewhere.

Abby Jones will be there too. Abby is not well known, but her story should be. Abby was best friends with a young woman named Leelah Alcorn. On a Sunday morning at the end of last year, Leelah, a transgender teen, became a tragic national story when she wrote a wrenching note, walked four miles from her home and then stepped in front of a truck on I-71. The note was titled "Sorry." She thanked Abby Jones for "dealing with my pathetic problems." And she told her mom and dad, "You just can't control other people like that." Forty-eight hours after the first note was posted on Tumblr, it had 82,272 views.

Lindsey Deaton is a performer and a musician. She is a conductor, guitarist, singer, speaker and teacher. She is also a "fierce transgender and LGBTIQ youth advocate." Deaton's road has a lot of turns. She grew up male and traditional enough. She, too, married and had children. Later in life — like two years ago — she transitioned to her life as a woman. She and Joan remain married after 34 years, and Deaton has an unyielding desire to help young people as they face their unique realities.

Finally, Zay Crawford and her dad are coming to tell their story. Zay is the little girl who captured this city's heart with her bravery and honesty. A child who was born as Isaiah but never identified as a boy, Zay decided to live as a girl. Her parents, Jason and Chasilee ultimately decided that Zay knew best. Their honesty, and Zay's zeal, astounded everybody.

These are stories that must be told in a community. More importantly, these are the stories that must be heard.

Join us. Please.

StoryTellers

Wednesday Night. The Phoenix. 812 Race St, Cincinnati.

Doors open at 6. Stories begin at 7. Cash bar and food available.