In addition to providing me with an outlet for my views on politics and gay rights, this blog - to the dismay of some and with the encouragement of others - allows me to talk about my experiences in the hope that others can perhaps avoid the mistakes that I have made and/or know that they are not alone in their feelings and experiences. Most importantly, I hope closeted guys will realize that one can survive the coming out process later in life. It's not any easy process as long time readers know from following my ups and downs since April, 2007, when I began blogging regularly, inspired in part by Matt at Debriefing the Boys who talked a great deal about his coming out experience on his blog and my therapist. Thus, it was nice to receive an e-mail from a long time reader in response to my first post of the day which stated in part as follows:*
Everyone who reads your blog knows what your favorite issues are from the news articles you link to and comment on, but even better than those, perhaps because they're rarer, are the personal posts with your thoughts and experiences. For anyone reading your blog who is still in the closet, I really appreciated what you wrote this morning about Losing One's Soul in the Closet.
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Looking back at the unhappiness and hidden inner misery that I experienced for so many years as a result of religious indoctrination and the fear of rejection by family and others, it angers me greatly that so many gays - including a number that I know personally - continue to experience self-hate and denial of self because of the rantings of homophobes, self-centered family members, and generally corrupt/uncaring/unfeeling religious denominations and fraudulent ex-gay programs. All the more so because all legitimate medical and mental health experts agree that sexual orientation is not a choice and is naturally occurring throughout life on this planet. If I can do even a tiny part to expose religious hypocrisy and bigotry and thereby stop what I deem to be the cruel spiritual/emotional abuse of LGBT individuals, then I will have done something worthwhile in my life.
2 comments:
Wow. Glad I found your blog. I came out at age 38 as a dad with three kids, and a strict Southern Baptist to boot. I realized my repressive "faith" was nothing more than a vehicle for teaching self-hatred, and I was shown how to walk away from fundamentalism as a result. I did not always make wise choices in coming out later in life, as you can read about on my blog Boy Grows Up (http://www.blog-schmogg.blogspot.com) but on balance I am really happy to have made the same choice you did. I will be a regular reader! Peace...
Northwest,
Thank you for the kind words. I have briefly checked out your blog. Seems we have some common experiences. I would have e-mailed you, but I did not see an e-mail address on your blog. Stay in touch.
Michael
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