When I Came Out

When I came out to my mom she said that she understood because she had a long-term relationship with a woman before I was born. “You can’t help love who you love.”

When I came out, at Christmas Dinner, my father just said, “It’s about damn time you told us.” I asked, “Is that it? ‘Cause I’d worked myself up for something a little, well… ‘more’…” Mom replied, quoting from the TV Show “Soap”, “Would this have worked better for you, Mike? — OH MY GOD, BUD, OUR SON’S A HOMO!” “No,” I said, “please pass the wine…” I love my family!

When I came out, my mother said, “Well, you’re in that phase where you’re figuring it all out. Don’t do anything you’ll regret”… which was WAY more support than I ever suspected.

When I came out to my friend as a bisexual, he said, “Wait, so you’re attracted to girls too? That’s really sexy!” We then proceeded to drool over Emma Watson together. Best. Night. Ever.

When I came out, my mother said, “You can never tell your father. I think he might kill himself and it will be your fault.”

When I came out, I cried. I felt like I lost a battle. Now I am the happiest, proudest gay ever!

When I came out, I lost a couple of friends and went through a rough patch with my mother, but the relief of not having to lie and put up a façade anymore was overwhelming. Thirty-five years later, life is still great.

When I came out, my brother wanted to know what we’d do if we ever both liked the same girl.

When I came out as a male to female transsexual to my father, it was in an email around Christmas time, about three years after I moved very far away from my home state where they lived. I got a response from him a few days later, saying that I was mistaken and misguided, but that also he had been looking at post-op SRS before and after pictures, and in his opinion they didn’t look anything like vaginas he’s ever seen. All I could say was “Please, Dad, PLEASE tell me you weren’t just thinking about what my post-op vagina was going to look like.”

When I came out in 1983, I was a scared closeted late teen. Literally within weeks, I was politically active. I kicked down that closet door.