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Is it worth coming out to parents?

Discussion in 'Coming Out Advice' started by Alaya, Mar 17, 2013.

  1. Alaya

    Regular Member

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    Gender:
    Female
    Sexual Orientation:
    Lesbian
    Out Status:
    All but family
    I'm currently debating whether or not its worth coming out to my parents at all.

    My mum is accepting of homosexual men but I've never really seen her reaction to lesbians other than we're watching TV shows about it (generally positive). My main worry with her is that she constantly makes references to how much she likes my boyfriend and how she would like me to marry him. While she pretends otherwise she also really wants grandchildren. My sister is straight, married and wants children but she has suspected endometriosis so I think my mum is trying to cover all her bases, even though I've stated I don't really want to give birth before.

    Another worry is that whenever I have an issue that makes me, in her view, abnomral she can't cope and in the past has said things like "You can't have X problem because I can't cope with anything else being wrong with you" (in reference to me having a UTI). For example I suffer from anxiety and fainting and its only very recently she hasn't been overly critical of me. Though that said her and my sister are always telling me its "ridiculous" and that I need psychological help. (It barely impacts my life at all nowadays.) So I feel telling her I'm gay would either make her blame herself for it or she'd think it was something else wrong and tell me that I can't be gay as she wouldn't be able to cope with it.

    My dad on the other hand is simply a homophobic jerk. He's one of these "as along as they don't do it in public" types. Like my mother he dislikes it when I'm "abnormal" in anyway, when I was younger he hit me in public for having a panic attack and that's pretty much made me lose all respect for him. I really don't care about coming out to him but he'll find out and if I come out to my mum and will probably use this to act aggressively towards me (although he's mostly passively aggressive these days).

    On top of all this I don't think people in my family will believe me if I come out to them as I've had a lot of boyfriends, with a few of them being long term. (1 year +) My current boyfriend is the only one my mum has a approved of and the only one my dad hasn't actively disapproved of though.

    TL;DR - My mum wants grandchildren and is obsessed with me being normal but I want to come out to her, my dad is a jerk and won't approve but coming out to my mum means coming out to him too. I've had a lot of boyfriends so I don't think people will believe I'm gay.

    I'm finding it really hard to conceal from my parents when I'm not living with them and next year I will be living with them (and financially dependent on them) while I'm in postgraduate study. There are no jobs for me in the local area though so I'd be moving away after but I'd still like my mum to know so that in future I can introduce her to any girlfriends I have.

    Is it worth coming out in my situation and if so when would be the best time to do it?

    (On the boyfriend thing: he knows I'm lesbian and I am going to split up with him as soon as the next time I see him isn't after he's driven for hours to come and see me.)
     
  2. Homosexual

    Full Member

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    Location:
    Northeast
    As an in the closet gay man I've had girlfriends too which, like you, may help to surprise some if they ever found out that I was gay. I should add that others have let on that the lack of a wife or having only just a few short term girlfriends in my life reason enough to increase suspicion of my homosexuality.