From Closeted to Local Hero: How Christine Terpening Built a Lifeline for Rural LGBTQ+ Youth

Vermontville woman created I'll Be Your Rock to ensure no young person faces the isolation she once knew

I'll Be Your Rock marching in the Vermontville Fourth of July parade in 2025. Courtesy photo

Published: October 9, 2025 | Last Updated: October 9, 2025

Two sources in this story are identified by first name only at their request for safety and privacy reasons.

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

Christine Terpening can pinpoint the exact moment her life pivoted from survival to service. It was a Thursday in 2022, and she was watching an NBC news report about LGBTQ+ youth mental health from her home in rural Vermontville, near Lansing. The statistics were stark: 60% of LGBTQ+ kids consider suicide and self-harm. But the report also mentioned something hopeful — that having just one openly gay adult in their lives dramatically reduces those devastating statistics, and if they have one "rock" of support, the numbers drop even further.

Terpening, then in her mid-40s and just beginning to come out as lesbian, reflected on her position as a well-known community leader. She thought about all the young people she'd coached, mentored and watched grow up. While coming out publicly in this tight-knit community was daunting, she recognized a unique opportunity to support local LGBTQ+ youth.

"I just thought of all of these kids that I know and love," she says. "I knew what I had been through and I just can't stand the thought of these kids going through that."

As she wrestled with the decision of whether to step forward publicly, the phrase "I'll be your rock" echoed in her mind. A few days after the NBC report aired, Terpening learned that a former student had died by suicide. She knew then that she couldn't wait any longer.

I'll Be Your Rock board member Cassey Tien offers an LGBTQ-affirming book to a Vermontville Youth Pride attendee. Courtesy photo

"I almost immediately came out — very loud — on social media," she recalls. "I decided that if these kids need to know one openly gay adult, well, I'll be that adult."

That weekend, Terpening launched I'll Be Your Rock to support LGBTQ+ youth across rural Michigan. The organization's first meeting was attended by only one brave teenager, Terpening recalls. But these days, I'll Be Your Rock hosts meetings and events year-round.

Growing up closeted in rural Michigan meant living with secrets that felt "bad and dirty," she says. "I was trying to figure this out my whole life and hiding a secret that made me feel awful, with nobody to talk to about it, no positive representation. I was raised on a dirt road in a small community in a time where there was no positive messaging around the LGBTQ community.”

Terpening says the privilege of passing as straight had allowed her to be celebrated by her community in roles like rodeo queen, athlete and respected volunteer. "Would that have happened had I been an out gay woman? I don't think so," she reflects. "I'm the lesbian who was closeted, but I knew what was happening to other people. I know the dark stories. I know about the suicides. I know about the people who left our community and never looked back."

By the time she started hearing positive messaging about LGBTQ+ people, Terpening was married with three children. Her coming out process was gradual and painful. "I didn't just come out, I fell out, I crashed out," she says. The end of her marriage was amicable — her ex-husband remains one of her best friends — but the internal struggle had taken its toll. Soon after the divorce, Terpening was diagnosed with breast cancer during the pandemic, adding another layer of difficulty to an already challenging period. "I was kind of in a dark spot," she admits. "And at that point, still not out publicly."

Terpening thought helping one kid would be 'a huge success,' but within months, they were pushing tables together to accommodate all the young people and their adult mentors, called “rocks."

"That was the moment I began to heal," she says. "All the things I had ever thought about myself or that I had been told through society or things that had happened in my small community, I began to heal when I started to help these kids."

I'll Be Your Rock T-shirt. Courtesy photo

Jenn, whose 14-year-old has been attending for nearly three years, describes the atmosphere as comfortable and safe. "It's nice because they do touch on stressful topics that might be impacting them, but then we move along: ‘Let's do something fun so you guys can relax and be who you are.’"

Board member Cassey Tien, the organization's educational liaison and a Michigan teacher, emphasizes the importance of this approach from an educator's perspective. "Representation and affirmation aren't extras — they're lifelines," she says. "I want my students and all kids in our community to grow up knowing they are worthy of joy and acceptance just as they are."

For Jenn's child, the group has been transformative. "It's opened her up to be more vocal about everything," Jenn says. "It helps all the kids become more vocal and more comfortable with speaking up."

I’ll Be Your Rock youth member Maddie, 18, explains how older participants help younger ones. "You are a rock and you help other people, and then you also help your little rocks as well," she says.

The idea for Vermontville Youth Pride emerged organically from the young people themselves. During one gathering, Tien asked what they wanted from the organization. "They're like, 'We want to go to a Pride,'" Terpening remembers. "I was like, 'I can't take these kids to a Pride.' But we all kind of looked at each other and we were all thinking the same thing: We can bring a Pride to them."

Within two months, they had organized the first Vermontville Youth Pride, which took place in the village in 2022. The event draws between 150 and 200 people, including roughly 50 to 60 young people who come from across Michigan — some from as far as Detroit and White Cloud, north of Muskegon almost two hours away. The 2025 celebration included drag performers, games, a bubble machine and even a petting zoo. Each year, every participant 19 and younger receives a free meal voucher. "We don't want any kid to not get a Pride trinket because they either had to eat or go without a meal," Terpening explains.

"Events like Vermontville Youth Pride turn that support into something visible and undeniable — a public celebration that says, ‘We see you, we love you and we're rooting for you to be your authentic self,’" she adds. "Just as important, Youth Pride gives kids the chance to see joyful queer adults living full, vibrant lives."

Parents like Jenn have found their own support network through I'll Be Your Rock. "When you're going through a situation that has to do with your child and the LGBTQ+ community, if you don't know something, they're all so willing to help," she says. "I've even just messaged Christine before, to say, ‘Hey, I'm just having a hard time today.’”

I'll Be Your Rock founder Christine Terpening. Courtesy photo

Tien sees a broader community impact. "When students feel safe and supported, they are able to thrive academically, socially and emotionally," she notes. "In a small, rural community like ours, that kind of visibility and affirmation is powerful. It says loudly that you are seen, you are valued and you are not alone."

Recently, after reaching out to the parents of a young member expressing thoughts of self-harm on the group’s Discord, Terpening watched the situation improve dramatically. "This kiddo at the next meeting was just so happy and said, 'I don't feel that way now,'" she recalls. "I just thought, 'Oh, thank God these kids have a space where they feel OK to speak like that and then they're OK when they get help.'"

I'll Be Your Rock's mission statement includes a phrase that captures Terpening's broader vision: "Coming out should be a happy story, not a survival story." "Our number one goal is to reduce the suicide rates," Terpening says. "But number two is we want these kids to have happy childhoods. We don't want them to just survive childhood. We want them to have a great one."

The organization now operates multiple chapters across Michigan, with plans to expand further. A recent foundation grant will help them begin work in Texas. Terpening's ultimate vision is ambitious: "If I had the resources, I would have a chapter within 30 minutes of every kid in the United States because they're out there hurting." Currently, some kids travel up to an hour and a half to attend I'll Be Your Rock meetings, underscoring the need for more local chapters.

“It's very hard,” she admits. “It's especially challenging to keep finding new funds, but we keep trying.'"

As young people like Maddie prepare for college and new chapters in their lives, they carry with them the confidence that comes from knowing they're not alone. Maddie plans to study computer science, possibly in Canada. In the meantime, the foundation of support from I'll Be Your Rock provides a sense of hope during uncertain times.

For Jenn's family, I'll Be Your Rock has become something deeper than a support group. "It’s more like a family to us," she says. "It's really great for the kids, and I really wish they had one around when I was younger."

"I often say that every kid should come from a community that loves them, supports them and celebrates them," Terpening reflects. "That's what we're doing."

The woman who once felt isolated and ashamed in her small town now serves as living proof that rural communities can become sources of affirmation. For the young people who travel from across Michigan to attend I'll Be Your Rock meetings, Terpening represents something precious: the openly gay adult she wished she'd had growing up, ready to be their rock when they need it most.

Learn more about I'll Be Your Rock at illbeyourrock.org.