The Confession

The Confession

A young adolescent man named Michael created a letter to his mother. In the letter, he revealed that he was gay. He also said that no one trained or taught him to be gay and being homosexual doesn’t mean being evil and sick. That living in San Francisco was a breath of fresh air as people in there don’t consider sexuality a measure of the worth of being human.

My thoughts on Michael’s letters is that he didn’t have it easy growing up being gay. He was disdained for who he was. Revulsion, shame, and disbelief. Micheal had the experience that while growing up. And for fear of being rejected, it took Michael to finally revealed to his mother that he was gay. 

Sometimes life is not fair for people. Sometimes we will never know what will hit us and discrimination against LGBT people is commonplace. Gay, lesbian or bisexual people are 10 times more likely to experience discrimination based on sexual orientation than heterosexual people. Mistreatment comes in many forms, from seemingly benign jokes to verbal insults, unequal treatment, and in the most extreme cases, physical violence. Further, for many LGBT people, bias is everywhere and lasts a lifetime: at home, school, work and in the community. It teaches them to shame and fear and it makes people fearing what would happen if they came out of their closet. 

Being gay or whatever sexuality you have is not something to be ashamed of. Hiding would only hurt and burden you with your kept feelings. Do not wait for others to validate yourself, you are only shortchanging yourself. Just because you are gay doesn’t mean that the things you do are different than those straight people. You are human. You eat, sleep, walk, and breathe. You have rights just as every straight people are in this world. You have every damn right to be here. You can be a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher or whatever career you would pick. Because you are no different from these people. Live for who you are, not for who they want you to be who you are.

Being gay is not easy but coming out gay is not all about judgment. Some people can accept you for who you are. The public’s contempt may be harsh but know that you have some friends and family members who will support you. Your silence will not help you. No one will be able to help you if you don’t say what you wanted to say. The richness, beauty, and depths of love can only be fully experienced in a climate of complete openness, honesty, and vulnerability.