A Coming Out Story

Every now and then I receive wonderful messages from readers who thank me for sharing my own story about coming out, surviving the transition, etc. One of the driving reasons I started this blog was to hopefully help others that found themselves in the closet and unsure about what to do and questioning whether or not they could survive the process emotionally. While horror stories do occur where family and friends reject us, often our worse nightmares do not come to pass and we discover that in our mind we created a picture far worse than reality. Fear can be such a powerful and disabling force. Here are highlights from a message I received today from a reader in Britain who has been following this blog for a while now. I am so happy that his worse fears were not confirmed:

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I did it. I finally got a bit of honesty about my situation. I told my very homophobic Mum that I'm gay last week and she's been surprisingly cool about it. We've actually sat down since and had a proper talk about it. She knows it's what I am, that I'm not going to be changing and she's basically just stated that she wants me to be happy and if that's as a gay man then so be it. I've told 2 friends and they've been wonderful - both knew by the way :-) I'm wearing a rainbow wristband openly and Mum's just smiled. I'm OUT! Thank you Michael for all you've done for me. Without realising, your presence has helped me exponentially.

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Coming out is never easy at any age. However, it is something that can be survived and at least in my own case, living honestly and authentically has been liberating beyond belief. Like my reader's mother, my parents' main concern was my happiness. I wish my reader much happiness and self-fulfilment as he moves forward on his journey.