I am writing a coming out letter for my dad. I am not sure if I will ever send it but I am using it as a way of organizing my thoughts. I have no idea how my dad will react so I want to include rebuttals to common misconceptions about gay people. Nothing too argumentative but I want to make sure he knows the truth. One thing I included was that I didn't choose to be gay as I would not choose a life that could lead to me being disowned by family and friends. Did anyone react to your coming out with any misconceptions and how did you answer them?
No, the only person I came out to was my brother and he had no misconceptions at all. One misconception that one might have is that they'll think it's just a phase that will be grown out of. If your dad does react with a plethora of question,s just answer them truthfully according to what you believe. If you are asked a question that you do not know the answer of, just reply with "I do not currently know that answer but I can look it up if it's such a worry to you" or something of that nature.
One misconception is in the form of a question: if you've never been with a guy (in your case), how do you know you like them? Alternatively, if you've never been with a girl, how do you know you don't like them? You could counter that by asking either of those two questions as well, depending on the situation.
This may not apply to everyone, but this was a misconception my mom had. My mom thought I decided to be gay because many of my friends are openly gay. I had to reminded her that one doesn't "catch the gay" like it has some plague like powers. I wish you the best of luck, and I think it is very smart in your part to prepare answers to potential questions. People are afraid of what they don't understand, so furthering their knowledge I feel can only be a positive in the end.
