eBook

English

9781952143540

"Marpheen Chan was born in 1991 to a Cambodian mother who fled from the atrocities of the Cambodian genocide and the Khmer Rouge to the United States. Born in San Diego, he moved to Maine when he was only 4 years old, and soon found himself-and his siblings-taken into custody by Maine DHHS and put into foster care. This is his coming-of-age story as a Cambodian boy living in a nearly all-white state, and his coming-out story as a gay man raised by adoptive Evangelical parents who belong to the virulently anti-gay Assemblies of God church. It is also a poignant exploration into the emotional toll "the system" takes on neglected and abandoned children, and a testimony of appreciation for the graciousness of those who decide to helpages With compassion and honesty, Chann recalls what he learned, gained, and lost as he navigated the seemingly impossible barriers to authentically expressing his true self, and his evolution from rebel boy to holy-roller youth to openly out, thriving advocate for equality and civil rights, and elected official in Portland. Throughout, he acknowledges his claim to representing "new" Maine, but roots his personal story in the self-reliance, ingenuity, and generosity of "old" values, both of his native country and his beloved home state"--,Provided by publisher.