Family Angry I'm Gay Like My Dad

Q WHEN I was about six my parents split up. No one ever said anything, but I knew what my dad had done must be very bad.

My mum refused to talk about him at all and neither would her parents, who we lived with. But I got curious about my dad, especially when I became a teenager.

Although there wasn't any point in asking about him at home as, every time I tried, everyone got very agitated.

But my imagination was running riot. I decided he was a serial killer or a foreign spy which, in a way, I thought exciting.

I had other problems as well. I realised I was attracted to men fairly early in life.

We lived in a smallish place so no gay pubs or anything but when I went to uni, I met other gay guys and realised I wasn't as much of a freak as I thought.

After I graduated and got a good job, I decided to come out to my mum. I was tired of lying to her. Also, I'd met someone special and I wanted to be able to bring him home to meet her and my gran.

How stupid can you get?

My mum and my gran were both appalled and angry. By now you'll have worked out what I should have done ages ago - my dad's secret was he was gay, too.

So here I am at 26, facing the same problem he did and facing the same fate.

I either, according to my gran, give up this nonsense or I'm not welcome in her house.

I wanted you to see that, while you're always telling people being gay is no longer an issue, where I come from, it is.

 Anser @ Family Angry I'm Gay Like My Dad
Glasgow Daily Record, UK