So, at first, when I was finally ready - on my 20th birthday - I began coming out to everyone but my family. Their attitudes also made me feel like the world would be just as hostile. I didn't know what allyship meant, but even so, I knew these people weren't allies, and I decided they were the last people I'd ever want to come out to. Meanwhile my mother would point at people she suspected were gay, and make a limp wrist gesture to me. My father said 'faggot' and 'queer' (pejoratively) with abandon, like when a ref made a bad call during a hockey game. And I was even awarded a medal for being an altar boy.īoth Amanda Jette Knox's partner and child have come out as trans, and the experience has been eye-opening for their family.Īs for my parents being homophobic, I had many reasons to suspect this as a child. Paul to the Corinthians coming from a mile away. I was so Catholic, I could sit, stand and genuflect on command. I was too terrified to tell them, mostly because I grew up Catholic. I didn't come out to my parents the way I wanted to.
This story was updated as of October 7, 2021
