Dana Fares was born in Ohio, which is close enough to make it a good fit for an auto-immune disorder. Her mother was born in Mexico and her father was an American who worked for the CIA. She attended Wellesley College, which was founded by a man with the same nationality as her, and graduated in 1973. Although she was not very popular at college, she pursued several extracurricular activities, including playing tennis and taking courses in foreign languages including German, French, Italian, and Spanish. She went on to become a successful writer, performer, and producer.
When Dana started dating, she found that she was rather confused about her nationality by her many new acquaintances. A friend of hers told her that she didn’t have to be American to be gay, but that it was simply a matter of preference. This confused Dana because she thought that she should be attracted to men instead of women, and that being nationalistic made her gay. Later she confided in her orientation counselor, whom she had met in a gym class and whom she described as helpful and understanding. Unfortunately, this did not change her sexual orientation.
At twenty-one, Dana began seeing someone she thought might be her future partner. Unfortunately, when they got together, he became violent, terrified of his nationality, and wanted to leave the country. Fortunately, however, Dana still remained fascinated by his nationality and was able to overcome her fear and allow herself to fall in love with him. They were married in a Catholic church two years later.