How I Came out…
"Mom I think it's time...I think I want to tell
everyone that I'm gay...I know that this
scares you, but it scares me too"
"Ok, well let's go upstairs and you can tell
your brother and sister first"
"Ok"
*we go up the stairs* *my heart is pounding*
*I started to tear up as I call out their
names*
"Gina, Gorge, can you come here for a sec"
*I wait until they come inside the room, and
they take a seat*
"What's wrong?"
"Gina, Gorge, I have to tell you something
that I've wanted to tell you guys for a long
time now. I don't want to be looked at
differently now, I'm still going to be the same
person."
*Gina and Gorge leaned in even closer with
a look of concern in their eyes* *I lick my
lips, and the words start to form as tears
start rolling down my cheeks*
"I'm GAY, I like Boys not Girls"
*I start busting out with more tears, and
there's a silence in the room* *finally my
mom speaks*
"Gina, Gorge, do you have any questions or
anything for your brother?"
*Gorge speaks first then Gina*
" We love you no matter what ba-ba, but
how did this happen?"
*I speak*
"Well I was born this way Gorge"
*Gorge responds
"Ok"
*Gina speaks*
"I love you ba-ba, also is that you liked
playing barbies with Me?"
*we all laugh*
"Yes, Gina that's why"
*we continued to laugh*
"Also guys, I play on coming out to
everyone tomorrow"
*Gorge starts to speak*
"Ok ba-ba, if anyone has a problem with it
we'll have your back"
"Thank you"
*we all hug*
-The next day-
*I couldn't sleep all night, my mind was
racing, the fear and anxiety about what was
going to happen made me wanna back out,
but I knew that if I didn't do it now, I would
never get another chance too*
*I wake up at 6 o'clock in the morning and I
start writing down what I have to say to my
extended family* *I come up with this*
"Dear beloved family member, I love you,
and I don't want this to change what you
think about me, I'm the same person that
I've always been, and I wanted you to know
frist since you are family, and I don't want
you to hear this from facebook so here it
goes, I'm GAY and proud, like I said I'm still
the same person that I've always been, and
if you do have a problem with it, I don't care
I am who I am and I'm not afraid anymore to
say it, thank you for understanding that this
is who I am and that I'm not going to change
that, with much love and respect ~ Ba-ba
❤"
*I copy and paste it from my notes to my
messages* *then I hit send*
*next thing I knew I was on the bus going to
school* *I text my friend Kathy and told her,
then later that day during anatomy I pulled
my best friend TJ aside and I tell him"
*Kathy says*
"Omg, I'm so proud of you for coming out,
ba-ba this weekend me and you can go and
see that love Simon movie"
"Thank you, and yes let's go see it"
*TJ responds by giving me a hug and says*
"Thank the lord, now I have someone who
can understand me, also I'm so proud of
you boo"
*I responded by saying*
"Now we can talk about boys lol"
*I start getting text back from family
members saying that they love me and how
supportive of me they are, and I run into an
empty teacher’s office and start crying while
reading these messages*
*After school I head over to my aunt’s house
who I didn't tell yet, and came out to her*
"Well baby I would still love you even if you
were a fish, this changes nothing, in fact I
love you even more"
*we hug and cry some more, and say*
"I love you"
"I love you more"
*I then go home and tell my homophobic old
way Mexican dad, and he says*
"Ba-ba I want you to know that I love you,
and that I accept you, and that if anyone
ever tries to hate on you for being who you
are then tell them to f*ck off before I find
them and beat their asses"
*I start bursting out in tears and I hug him
for the longest time*
-later that night-
*After I come home from watching a play, I
decided that it was time to make a post* *I
start with a picture of me in between two of
my gay friends, and I caption it*
"what do these three have in common?"
* then after I posted that on snap I made
another post that said…*
"<they're all gay"
* next thing I knew my Snapchat was
blowing up. After I makes those post I went
to Facebook and posted a picture from love
simon, and said…*
"Today I did something amazing, I've been
holding this back for some time now, but
today I can say as confident young man that
I am gay, and I'm proud, I would like to
thank all my family and friends who has
supported me today and showed me
nothing but love, I am who I am, and I can
also say that I love who I am and I wouldn't
change a thing"
So that's how I came out, do I regret it? Not
all of it, some parts like I wish I could have
told my family in person instead of text,
maybe I could have taken it one step at a
time. There's a lot of things I could have
done differently, but I'm glad I came out, it's
actually, brought me closer to some of my
family and even friends, yes, I lost some
along the way, but hey that's their lost. I
wanted to tell my coming out story, not
because it's interesting, but because I know
that someone out there will read it and
hopefully have the courage to come out. I
want people to know that it is ok to come
out, but only if they are ready, and that
nothing can prepare you for what's going to
happen.
I'm Joseph Thomas and this is my story!