Tag Archives: gay men
Frank, Educator, New York City
photo by Kevin Truong
photo by Kevin Truong
Christian, Fashion and Business Student, Paris
photo by Kevin Truong
photo by Kevin Truong
photo by Kevin Truong
photo by Kevin Truong
Christian, in his own words “Many people feel attracted to people of the same sex and wonder whether this means that they are gay. For some, these feelings can be very intense and alienating, while others are more comfortable with these feelings earlier on. Some people may ask themselves, “am I gay?”
I remember when I was younger, I used to ask myself the same question too, “Am I gay?” and it took me quite a journey before coming to self-realization.
Coming from a traditional conservative family, I was taught how to always fit into the social norm and uphold social values, while simultaneously respecting family’s face. When I was in secondary school, I “fell” for a girl. I tried to date her, chasing after her, as that is what all other straight men would do; well, at least that is what I thought they would do. But after a while, I started becoming aware of the fact that I felt more attracted to guys, especially the tall ones. Laughing out loud right? It is such a typical starting-point for your entrance into the gay world, but actually it was! As time went by, I grew older and being more conscious about my true self. I started dating guys, being in relationships, and feeling love. It was all going smoothly until the day my mum, by accident, found out the truth about my sexual orientation. Yes, I mean here, she found out that I AM GAY. As all typical asian moms do, she cried, yelled at me, screamed out loud. She even told me, “You are sick, you need to go to see the doctor and get treatments to heal it.” You don’t know how I felt at that time; I was already heartbroken when I heard people say that, but now it was from my own mother. I cried and soon fell into a spell of depression. After that incident, I didn’t talk to my mum for about a month, even though we lived under the same roof.
I thought it was the end for me; however, God didn’t leave me. I realized he had granted me with the greatest, most wonderful mum in the entire world. One day, when I arrived home from school, I stepped into my room and found on my bed a hand-written letter from my dearest mom. In the letter, she said that she didn’t hate me and would never abandon me simply because I AM GAY. She was just shocked at first and hoped that I could understand. She told me that she loved no matter what happened and would always be there to support me through all my ups and downs. “Be happy and take good care of yourself” is the bottom line of all her words. I shed a river of tears as I read it; I felt so lucky, overjoyed, I didn’t know what to say at that moment. I cried, running down the stairs and hugging my mom tight, saying, “Mom, you don’t know how much I love you, how lucky I am to have such a wonderful gift from God, you, my dearest mother.” And since then, all of my family members have found out the truth, and they have been being supportive of it. I do feel very blessed to have such loving family and friends around me, supporting me through all the hardships. Today, I proudly say out loud “I AM GAY,” and I don’t need to hide it.