As many of you know, outside of traveling and entrepreneurship, I do keep a part time job. A few months ago I reduced my hours, and changed shifts, which puts me in the constant company of a liberal veteran.
He knows I run a popular blog, so every so often he drops by front desk with some controversy or thought-provoking topic to add to my blogging roster.
This week, he gave me two. This one is the first.
It’s a video by Riyadh K on coming out as gay to an Irish Catholic mother, and an Iraqi father, followed by his father making a confession that shocks both mother and son.
If you’ve got sensitive ears with an aversion to coarse language, do not watch the video.
Of all the personal confessions anyone has to make to their family, I think this is one of the most difficult. After all, if you can’t find acceptance among the people who raised you, where will you find it? This is especially difficult if you’re still a minor, and still living at home.
Every coming out story I’ve ever heard, the parents cry. Even when they come to accept the truth, and accept their son or daughter, it begins with tears.
I think that says a lot about where we stand when it comes to the LGBTQ community, even in societies that consider themselves egalitarian and accepting.
The good news is: many do overcome the obstacle and loss it seems to represent for them. And thankfully, in the case of Sam, it did not mean the end of his life.
Have you or someone you know come out to their family, as gay or some other variant of the LGBTQ community? How did the family react? I’d love to hear about in the comments below.
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