As I have been reading these coming out stories I have hesitated sharing mine because it wasn’t positive. Basically, I sat my parents down and told them I had something to tell them. The tension in the room could have been cut with a spaghetti noodle. I just blurted it out, “mom and dad I am gay.”

My parents immediately argued with me and told me that it was a phase and I needed to get out of the house more, I needed to get a more “manly” job (I work as a secretary in a small office) and both parents suggested that I get into a program with the church. I know there isn’t a program that exists like that anymore, but they seemed to think so.

It was hard. They weren’t nice and I still cry at nights over this.

About a week later I came home from lunch on my day off and in my living room was my parents and my home ward bishop and my old scout leader. My parents had pretty much formed an intervention and my old church leaders were playing along.  I was pissed. I didn’t even sit down, I went right to my room. They wanted to come into my room to chat but I told them no way.  I ended up crawling out the window and leaving.

Fast-forward to now… my parents asked me to leave the house and I had to move. I found some supportive friends that have been awesome and affirming.  My life is much better being supported by cool people. My parents still reach out and I think they are sad about the way things went down but they are still trying to get me into counseling so I can come home to them.

Anyway, I wanted to share my story and be honest. I am jealous about all these positive stories but wanted to share mine to give another perspective.

We want to hear your story–here’s how to share it with us!

Each Sunday we feature a new Coming Out Story on the Latter Gay Stories blog. Coming Out is an important process that is different for everyone; some experiences are difficult to hear while others are heart-warming and inspiring. Still, coming out is never easy and more often than not we draw inspiration from others through their stories. We rely on weekly submissions to keep the Coming Out Stories alive. We invite you to share yours now.

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