Editor’s Note:  A PFLAG father wrote the following article for his son’s high school newspaper.

How to Make Your Dad Laugh While You’re Telling Him You’re Gay

 Previously my son was involved in a play about a high school student that was left handed.  The student experienced various trials and tribulations throughout his life because he was different and was afraid to come out to his family and friends that he was left handed.  It was very funny.  The students performed perfectly and communicated very well with their audience.  It was the perfect euphemism explaining what a homosexual student would experience (coming out of the closet) with his family and friends.

The first night I saw the play I laughed a lot and thought it was very well performed.

That night my son was wearing a T-shirt that said, “We are family”, with two male characters on one side and two female characters on the other side.  I couldn’t help but wonder, “Was this a symbol of homosexuality?  Was this play telling me something?”

The next night I cancelled my plans to go out with my wife and friends and went back to the play by myself.  Sitting in front, center stage, I realized what I already knew.  My son is gay.  I cried through most of the play.  I cried, not because my son is gay, but because he has gone through this by himself.  And I cried more in the following weeks than I have cried in my entire life.  He was 18 years old and went through this life experience with the fear of opening up to his dad and, probably, most of the kids at school throughout most of his school life.  At the end of that play, when I saw my son in the hallway, I gave him a big hug and told him how much I loved him.  He knew that I knew.

There is nothing worse in life than being alone.  By looking down at or, worse yet, by mistreating others that are different from you and I, we are telling them that we don’t accept them and that they cannot share our space in this world.

I have since studied thoroughly the question of homosexuality.  It is not a choice.  It is something that children are born with and therefore are given by their parents.  So think about it.  Think about it deeply.

Students, please be friendlier to those that are different from you.  You will feel better about yourself, as well as making them feel better about themselves.  Parents, please take the time to learn more about the perplexing question of homosexuality.  It will make you a better parent, even if none of your family are different.  No one should be alone.