- [Laci] Hey guys.
Here’s a little story about my life.
So my mom’s from a little farm town
where they make cheese,
and my dad is from Iran,
And I was born when they were in their early 20’s
during an earthquake.
It was bringing down the city of San Francisco
actually, which is where I live now.
But I was being born over in Utah.
When I was two years old,
we moved our butts to Portland, Oregon
where Mom had a daycare and one time
one of these snot-nosed brats
that she took care of decided
“Hey I think I’ll, like,
“throw a swing at this little baby’s face.”
Until I was seven or eight I had black teeth.
I was really a pretty nerdy growing up.
I really loved libraries.
I thought they were like magical castles.
It was always cold and rainy in Portland,
so being inside the library was like
this cozy little retreat.
When I was maybe like 10,
I discovered the sex aisle.
I was so fascinated!
I couldn’t stop myself.
I wanted to know about penises
and vaginas, and then one Sunday
a leader of the church asked me if
I think about sex.
I was like “How does he know?”
And I told no one.
I felt so bad that I had lied.
So when I was 12 we moved to California
for my dad’s job.
I had to leave behind all my friends
and I started spending more time at church
actually in California, because
I felt like I had a community,
and I felt less alone.
I was very involved.
A good little child.
But as I got older,
I was like (groans)
“I don’t know about this.”
So while I was learning how to cook,
and sew, and do crafts, and babysit,
my male friends were becoming leaders
in the church.
So I asked one of my teachers
like, “Why can’t I be a leader, dude?”
And she told me God wanted me to have
a different, special job.
Having lots of babies!
Which I was really not happy about,
because I didn’t want to have babies.
So, uh, I’d get involved in theater.
Pretty into that.
Singing, and dancing, and acting.
My momma has her own theater company.
And I was also developing this
turbulent relationship with the church,
which was a big part of my life.
I started to feel like the church was
actually not what I used to think it was,
and I left, and I felt free,
and yet I also felt really alone.
So I began to search for my purpose.
Soon I found myself crying all the time.
I felt hopeless, I felt empty,
and...
I really thought a lot about killing myself.
I cut my arms, and I popped pills,
and I slept a lot to get away from it all.
My mom and dad were really scared.
They took me to a therapist.
She really coached me through my depression.
She helped me figure out
how I could graduate high school early
and at 15 I got my diploma,
and then I popped my little booty
off to college.
College!
Woo hoo!
Parties and craziness, right?
No, actually wrong.
I did say I was nerdy.
I didn’t really party a lot.
I kind of kept to myself.
I lived alone, and I liked it that way.
College was where I found myself.
I became very politically active.
I participated in my first protest,
and I became a certified rape
and dating violence counselor.
I started a bunch of, um,
sexual health programs at alternative high schools,
which is where they send teen moms.
And I was also diligently posting
SEX+ every Saturday.
And I was really driven
to use the Internet as a platform
to have conversations with people
about the things that I thought
were important in the world.
In my senior year, I met my baby.
I can neither confirm nor deny
that I fell in love.
I graduated in 2011.
And then I thad to do this really scary thing
called “being a grownup.”
My first job was working for
Planned Parenthood making videos,
which when they offered it to me
I just felt like I had won life and everything.
I was working on SEX+ and I started
speaking at Universities, and participating
in documentaries, and eventually I started
working for Discovery as well,
making science videos for them.
And...
Here I am!
Um, I am a happy person.
I’m a stable person.
I know what I want in life,
although I’m not really sure
how best to get it.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from the past,
it’s that you have to hold on
to what you believe in, and that you have to
stay flexible, an just take each day
one at a time.
Find what makes you happy, and just
hold on like your life depends on it.
Cause at least for me...
It did.
So thanks for joining me, guys.
If you’ve made it this far,
wow, you’re amazing.
And I hope to have another SEX+ video
up for you as soon as I can.
Love, love. Bye-bye.