When KBIA and the Columbia Missourian first met Trinity Rainey in 2011, she found it both funny and frustrating when people mistook her for a boy at work. Her short hair and white T shirt completed her self-proclaimed “lesbian look.” At 16, Trinity learned not to spend too much time worrying about what others think, as a gay teen in Macon, Missouri.
A junior in high school, Trinity spent most of her time singing in choir, working two jobs, and playing varsity basketball. Though she hadn’t decided what she wants to study, after high school Trinity looked forward to attending the University of Missouri.
As part of the My Life My Town project, producers documented Trinity’s story in 2011.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oiijdc3CVaI
In 2015, the My Life My Town project decided to re-visit Trinity to see how her life had changed.
Trinity, now 20, has grown up a little faster than most. She graduated from high school, joined the National Guard and fell in love with her now-wife Sierra. The couple moved from Macon to Columbia, and bought a house with a backyard big enough for their menagerie of dogs.
Trinity does farm work once a week with her grandfather, who has grown to be her best friend. The rest of the time she runs errands, relaxes at home and works as a line cook at the hospital. She plans to study Hospitality Management when she returns to MU in the spring.
Here is the follow-up My Life, My Town documentary of Trinity Rainey, produced in 2015.
My Life, My Town is a series of films dedicated to giving teens a chance to tell their stories about growing up in rural areas or small towns in Missouri. It is a continuing collaboration between the Columbia Missourian and KBIA.
