Shaun shares with us his personal Westminster Story:

“It all started 13 years ago, when I moved to Rhode Island to attend Johnson & Wales University.

“I can remember sitting out on the benches in front of the Grace Church with some friends, and watching all the drag queens and gay folks coming and going from a local gay bar. I was amazed by them, because where I grew up, in a small town in Western Pennsylvania, you didn’t see too many out gay folks, let alone transgender folks or drag queens.

“If you were gay where I grew up, you certainly didn’t acknowledge those feelings. It was eight years before I came out myself as a Female-to-Male Transsexual. I am not ashamed of being born a woman, I don’t hide it from anyone, my past is very much a part of what made me who I am today.

“Westminster Street has also changed quite a bit since those days, when I lived in Bell Hall (now the Hotel Providence). It used to be a dark street that you probably didn’t want to walk up it alone late at night. Now, when I walk up the street, I am amazed by the transformation. I can only hope that Rhode Islanders appreciate what this street has to culturally offer.

“Westminster Street in Providence will always have a special place in my life. It is the place where I was first confronted with my destiny, my journey to truth and self-acceptance to become the man I am today.”

Shaun’s Westminster Story was submitted via this website. Tell us yours.

Baxter and Bailey walk down Westminster Street every other day with their owners, Tony and Jim.

Tony gives us the background: “Baxter, the chocolate terrier, was a stray found ‘down to the bone’ in Christian County, KT, and sent to a Warren, RI animal shelter in March 2008. Bailey, the Brindle terrier, is a rescue from friends in Long Beach, CA, who had to move due to the economy in 2004.”

Two years ago, they all moved from Boston to Providence. Tony is a web and print designer, and created the Providence Design District Association, a network of 68 designers based downtown, “Uniting All Commercial Designers to Raise the Creative Capital of Rhode Island to New Heights!” (capitalization his). Jim works as an interior designer in west Warwick.

Baxter and Bailey live with them in Federal Hill, on the appropriately named Barker Street. Keep an eye out for them as they sniff their way down the street – and as they are occasionally walked into Eno and Farmstead by Tony. “Yum!”

Baxter and Bailey’s Westminster Story was submitted via this website. Tell us yours.