Next up in our series* of coming out stories we have a young person with a very positive tale to tell. đ
I have a very supportive and loving family. Even though I knew that I was afraid they would reject me when I told them I was gay because Iâd had a girlfriend. I made a choice to move out of home before I told them in case they rejected me â at least then I wouldnât be homeless and I was living somewhere else. I told my sister first and it was so nerve wracking â I did it over the phone. She said it didnât matter, she loved me and did something Iâm forever grateful for.
She asked did I want her to be with me when I told my parents. It took about 3 hours to mutter Iâm gay but they were too engrossed in Coronation Street to hear me. She said for me âHeâs trying to tell you heâs gayâ and they still waited until the ads to ask me âAre you sure?â. I said âyes, I wouldnât be telling you if I wasnâtâ. My mum said âAs long as youâre happyâ and my dad said âWe are going for a walkâ. I was petrified leaving with him and he said âItâs a shock but we love you, youâre our sonâ. He then asked me did I watch the match on the weekend and I said âCome on now Da, gayâs donât want football and we laughedâ.
It gave me the courage to do a whirlwind tour telling everyone I loved that I was gay. Only one of my friends took it badly and we stopped being friends â no loss there when 99.9% of the people who mattered to me hugged me and said they loved me. I felt such relief and pride at my family and friends for their attitude and encouragement. My advice to anyone coming out with be have faith in the people you love â to most it wonât matter and to those it does, well, they donât matter.
Anonymous
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* Led by You have collected some of our young peopleâs coming out stories for #BelfastPrideWeek that they kindly agreed to share with everyone along with some advice for other young people who might be in this stage of their life.
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