A dedicated group of people traversing the country and recording stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as a way to help LGBT youth realize they are not alone makes a stop at Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse on Wednesday.

Reading at the Atlanta event on Dec. 29 will be “I’m from Driftwood” founder Nathan Manske and Marquise Lee, director and editor of the video series of the project.

Manske writes on the "I'm From Driftwood" website that he was inspired to begin the project after watching the film, "Milk." It wasn't the movie itself that inspired him, he said, but rather a photo of Harvey Milk riding on the hood of a car during a San Francisco Gay Pride parade.

"It was a photo of Supervisor Harvery Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S., riding on the hood of a car in a San Francisco Gay Pride march, holding a sign that reads, 'I’m From Woodmere, N.Y.' The sign was intended to show how far people came to attend the San Francisco rally, but it meant something more to me. It meant that there are gay people in every small town and every big city across America and the world. I was thinking about that photo in between assaults on the snooze button and I responded to Harvey’s sign. I’m from Driftwood," Manske explains.

Manske is from Driftwood, Texas, but now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. Before he started the “I’m From Driftwood” blog and website, he was a freelance copywriter whose work included the Chemistry.com commercials that questioned eHarmony’s discriminatory practices against LGBT people seeking relationships online.

This fall the "I'm From Driftwood" crew started its 50-state trek across the country to collect stories and meet new people from rural towns as well as metropolitan cities. The stories, says the founder of “I’m From Driftwood,” will empower young people as well as all of us.

‘I’m From Driftwood’ reading
7:30 p.m.
Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse
991 Piedmont Ave.
Atlanta, GA 30309
www.outwritebooks.com
www.imfromdriftwood.com