ARIES MAGAZINE 2014 MAY | Page 98

I Regret C 9 8 M A Y 2 014 / ARIES Me and my mom are really close. She loves me incredibly much and I am an only child. However, she is from a different generation and culture where homosexuality wasn’t open. I assume mom would be the one that would take the news better than my dad, who I still have to tell. I think they always suspected something. I never really was a happy kid, especially now. Also, I did not have a girlfriend in my teens, besides two short 1 week relationships that I called off. So I told her and her first reaction was “No way.” She was clearly going through denial. She made me feel filth and asked me about each sexual preference. If I am sure. That I can’t be. She was going through denial- BIG TIME. Every time I pointed out that I did something gay, she would just refuse it and point out my puppy love with girls. For example, I said that I never had a girlfriend, and she quickly pointed out that “how do I know that I am gay if I was never in a relationship with a woman ?” Worst flawed logic ever. She also said that I made a mistake telling my friends since I’m not sure. However, she told me she loved me. That I am her child no matter what. I also told her that I considered suicide and that broke her heart. She said I should have told her years ago to spare myself the pain (but I suspect that also she thought she would have had a chance to change me). She pointed everything risky for being gay. Although I admit there is some truth to it, she imagines a dark risky lifestyle. She is scared that I would get disease. That people will prejudice against me (despite telling her that ALL my friends that I told were ok with it). That I wouldn’t find a faithful partner, etc. These conversations carried like a loop. Over and over again until midnight. You can only explain to one person that being gay is not a choice so many times. I also told her in the near future nothing would change, and if she would want me to be celibate - that I would. We went to sleep, but neither of us could. Her second last words were” promise me you won’t jump into something head first”. Her last words were “Promise me you won’t hurt yourself”. I spent several hours listening to music. She said she was awake for several hours. Morning came. Her voice is very soft, and my dad can see she is sick. I talked with my mom for a little. Mostly about the same things. She now believes that I am gay, and apologized to me (whoa...)for having me go through so much hardship. Unfortunately, she still hopes for a miracle that I will change. I also managed to explain that this is a preference, like your favorite color, rather than an obsession. She said that now she gets it. She also said that she is very scared for my future, despite me telling her that I would not do this if I wouldn’t have a future that I enjoy. She hugged me so many times during this difficult period. I regret coming out not because of the outcome - but because I caused her so much pain. She said that she needs time to digest this information, but also hopes that I would change. She brought almost every argument in the book with the exception of religious ones.