“What stuck with me most was when he said he had enough money to fix it. I will never forget him saying that – because it wasn’t just the words that were ridiculous, but the tone of it all – it sounded full of genuine care. Not with anger or disgust, but with love – and this is why homophobia is a terrible evil: it disguises itself as concern while it is inherently hate. I was blessed enough to know this – but so many queer and questioning youth aren’t as lucky, and almost all homophobic people will outright deny it. Don’t be fooled: no person, no matter how important society deems their relationship to you, has the right to denounce you for who you were born as.

As an openly gay person, it’s easy to look back at the coming out process and have the echo of scarring words or the pain of physical abuse overshadow the support from those who accept and love us for whom we are – but it’s most important to know that both sides of the experience exist for everyone. It may feel like you’re completely alone, but for every bigot who denies you, there is someone out there, whether you’ve met them yet or not, who does and will accept you completely. Don’t believe me? I promise you this:
my mom, my step dad and I are three of them.”