My mom gave me enough self-worth to carry me through difficult experiences. She was very loving and accepting. She was like, 'Whelp, you're gay? OK, cool.'
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Deep down, my mom had long suspected I was gay... Much of her anger and hurt came from her sense of betrayal that she was the last to be told.
My mother wanted me to understand that as a woman I could do pretty much whatever I wanted to, that I didn't have to use sex or sexuality to define myself.
My mom was really cool. She's the one that gave me the mentality about believing in myself and trusting it, that I was always gonna be okay, and that I could do things in a special way. She just pumped me up, you know?
My mom doesn't get the whole gay thing, but she loves me.
I came out to my parents as gay, and then I realized, you know, four or five years later, that I wasn't really happy, no relationships were working, and there was something missing in my life, and you know, I was doing drag, performing and stuff, and I realized through that arc that I was much happier doing that.
We lived in a real rough place but my mother kept me straight.
My mother is extraordinary. She understood me and never tried to hold me back.
I knew that I was a gay boy fairly early; what was interesting to me was that my mother didn't know. She made me play baseball - I had no desire to do that. I said, 'Mom, I don't like direct sunlight, I don't like bugs, I don't like grass, and I'd rather be in the house playing with your fabric samples.'
My mother tried her best to give us a sense of self-esteem.
My mother and father could not handle even me being gay. We never talked about it, really.