Percy Lee

Community Spotlight

Recorded on June 12, 2025 by Eros Preston.

EP: Go ahead and introduce yourself.

PL: My name is Percy. Percy Lee. I use any pronouns. I'm queer.

EP: Yeah. Tell me about your connection to the queer community.

PL: When I was in, like, middle school, I think, my older brother came out as gay. So I was like, “Well, that's great for him. I don't know what that means.” And I didn't consider that it was different. I guess I was just like, you know, everyone has a gay brother. That's a thing.

And then I was like, “Well, maybe that's not just him.” And so I thought, “Oh, I guess I like men and women. And you know what? That's life.” And now that I've actually considered it, I know what being gay is.

EP: No way.

PL: I know what it means.

EP: How many years did that take you?

PL: Um, let's not talk about that. That's not important. I think I'm less interested in romance than the average person, so I consider myself sort of aroace-ish [aromantic asexual]. But it's like—women are... women are pretty. I'm just saying.

So somewhere between ace and lesbian and just queer in general. Yeah. I don't know. And then I'm like—genderqueer. Nondescript gender.

So I really remember it was middle school because we had to do this thing in—what’s her name? Gibson, the art teacher—in her class. I don't know, like, put your name and some things about you. One of the things I put was that I was bi[sexual]. And then I brought that thing home, and my mom saw it. She looked at me and went, “You're bi?” And I just kind of nodded, and she gave me a thumbs-up. And I was like, “Well... all right.”

Because when my brother came out, it was like a big thing, you know? Obviously my parents—like—they'd never had a gay child before. This was novel.

As far as they're aware, they've never had a gay relative at all. And so, they were really supportive. They got him a bunch of rainbow stuff, and he felt kind of awkward about it. But, you know—that's...

EP: That’s what proud parents do.

PL: That is what proud parents do.

And then I came out, and it was just like, “Oh, you're both gay? Okay.” And now all three of us are gay.

Now all three of us are gay.

Wait—four of us! My mom is also gay. She's bisexual.

EP: Hell yeah. So, tell me about your connection to Zionsville.

PL: I lived there. I was born in Texas. Moved to Zionsville when I was, like, six. I briefly went to Eagle Elementary, and then my first-grade class was at Pleasant View. I went there, except for third grade—I was homeschooled, but I still lived there. I don't even remember why. I think my brother was homeschooling for some reason, so I was like, “I guess I'll do that too.”

I was there until seventh grade. I left, like, mid-seventh grade because my brother was going to high school downtown—he went to Riverside. My mom worked at Riverside and Herron. We moved to Indiana because my dad got a job downtown, but we chose Zionsville for the school system.

Then in seventh grade, I got really depressed. I stopped going to school, and my brother and I did theater downtown. So my parents were like, “We don’t do anything in Zionsville. Let’s leave.”

And now I live in the city. But I grew up in Zionsville, for the most part.

EP: Yeah. What was that like—being a queer person growing up in Zionsville?

PL: Well, I live in the city now, so... um, it was weird.

Around the time I was open about being bisexual, I think there was one other kid in my grade who I knew was gay. But he was also, like—I don’t know if “popular” is the word—he hung out with a lot of the girls in my grade I’d consider to be popular. We never really spoke, but I saw him around. He was the very, almost stereotypical, flamboyant gay kid.

EP: Yeah.

PL: But other than that, I didn’t know anyone else who was gay—or at least who knew they were gay.

Because, obviously, a lot of my friends turned out to be gay. But we didn’t know that at the time. Most of our friend group—pretty much everyone I knew at the time but don’t talk to anymore—was also gay.

I remember I wore this rainbow shirt all the time. It was just comfortable. A plain white shirt with a rainbow on it. Boring as hell, but I wore it constantly. And at some point, that other gay kid pointed out how often I wore it—like it was weird that I wore rainbows.

And I unzipped my hoodie—I wore the same hoodie every day—to show him I was wearing it right then. He was like, “See?” And I thought, What is so weird about this?

And I couldn’t tell if I was being made fun of for wearing the same thing every day, or for being gay.

And I was like, “You’re also gay.”

So… could be both?

It confused me so badly. But I moved on.

I think before that, another time—I was holding the door for our class, wearing that same rainbow shirt, and he walked by with his friends, giggling. He pointed at me and said, “Is that a homophobic pride shirt?” and kept walking.

And I was like, Middle schoolers are crazy, brother. You’re also gay.

It was just really weird. Like, I couldn’t tell if I was being bullied or if it was some kind of “we’re both gay, but I’m cooler” thing. Like, “I have straight friends, and you wear a rainbow shirt, so we’re not the same.”

And I was like, You’re weird.

It was weird.

And then, like—growing up in general wasn’t great, because of other stuff going on. I’m autistic. I have ADHD. That was very evident when I was a kid. In general, it was a weird experience. And yeah, I left because I was getting bullied and wanted to die.

EP: That would do it.

PL: Yeah.

So living in Zionsville was weird. And being bisexual was just this extra thing people could throw in—like, “Oh, you’re weird, and you’re gay, and also you wear a rainbow shirt. What’s that about?”

And I was like, I don’t know what’s happening right now.

Being bullied confused the hell out of me. I’d be like, “What is he saying?” and move on. Then later I’d think, Wait a minute. Maybe that made me feel worse than I realized.

EP: Yeah.

PL: It was an interesting experience. But there were things I liked about Zionsville. I still go to the Fall Festival. There were people I knew back then that I don’t talk to anymore, but I still hear about them.

There was this girl I knew—Alex, I think? She goes to Riverside. I think she recognized my mom once—my mom subbed a lot. She was like, “Oh, your name sounds familiar. Is so-and-so your kid?” And my mom was like, “Yes. Did you know each other?”

So we hung out once, and it was like, “Okay, we’re both still here, and we’re still gay.”

We haven’t talked since, but it was like… okay. We’re doing all right.

It was Zionsville.

EP: It was Zionsville. I feel like only people who lived there will get it when you say that.

PL: If you lived in Zionsville and you don’t live there anymore, you know. It’s just—it was Zionsville.

Real sees real.

EP: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well—tell me about what else you do in your life, as someone who grew up in Zionsville and is also bisexual.

PL: Yeah. Casually.

EP: Job, hobbies, school?

PL: Obviously, I’m a barista now. That feels like a given.

I used to work in a grocery store, but that’s behind me.

It happens.

EP: Grocery stores happen to you?

PL: Yes.

Barista is my life now.

There’s not a day I don’t go to push up my glasses and smell espresso on my hands. That’s just life now. I smell like coffee forever. Straight up. Doesn’t matter how long I’ve been home or how many times I wash my hands—I will still smell like coffee grounds.

I draw sometimes. I don’t draw as much now. I used to draw a lot when I lived in Zionsville. I’d go home, watch Dan and Phil, and draw.

EP: That’s another reason you were gay.

PL: Yeah. Dan and Phil actually made me gay. Shout out to them.

Anyway—I used to draw a lot more, but now I do other stuff, so I don’t have as much time. I did kids’ theater for a while. Now I’m 19, so I’ve aged out of that.

What else do I do?

I read comic books. A lot. I watch comic-based stuff. I still love theater—I’m seeing Cabaret this summer. I get tattoos, because I still like art.

EP: You just got your GED.

PL: I just got my GED! I dropped out of high school—I lived here, did a year of high school online (shout out, COVID), dropped out sophomore year, and didn’t do anything for a couple of years.

Actually, that’s not true. I took a few classes at Ivy Tech. Then I did a class with Indy Reads in Fountain Square. Took all the tests—and now I have my GED. I should be getting my diploma in the mail in a couple of weeks. And I’ll officially be a high school graduate.

EP: Let’s go!

PL: Technically, I can apply to college now. Who knows what I’ll major in. Maybe anthropology. Maybe theater. Maybe I’ll end up in criminal law like I was once interested in. Maybe.

But I don’t like lawyers. So I don’t know.

EP: So maybe don’t be a lawyer.

PL: Yeah, but if I go into anthropology or history or something, I could still technically work in the legal field.

EP: That’s true.

PL: So maybe I’ll do that. I don’t know for sure. But yeah—that’s about my life right now.

EP: All right—last question. Before we end, do you have any life lessons or advice you want to share? You can say no.

PL: Um… I’ll say:

If you live in Zionsville and you get bullied—or don’t realize you’re being bullied—don’t kill yourself. Because maybe one day, you’ll start doing theater, and get a job as a barista, and it’ll get better. You’ll read a whole lot of comic books, and all of your friends will become... literally every single person you know will end up being gay.

I genuinely guarantee you—right now—if you’re gay and you feel like you’re alone, you’re not. Because every single one of your friends is going to tell you, “Hey, I have something to say,” and it’s going to be that they’re gay.

That happened to me. That happened to everyone I know. That happens to pretty much every gay kid. Because you hang out with your friends, and subconsciously, you realize you are the same. You just don’t know it yet.

Every single gay person I’ve ever met has said, “Oh yeah—and then we all turned out to be gay.”

Surprise, surprise. It’ll happen.

So if you’re gay—don’t die.