A good read! I didn't have parents to come out to when I thought I was gay and one brother did not speak to me for 3 or 4 years after I told him.

After a very long hiatus from anything LGBTQIA+ (fear, trying to keep a low profile at work and socially, etc.); November 2019, I came out as transgender, as the 'gay lifestyle' as some people put it, really wasn't me but I knew there was something going on which could not be explained by being defined as gay. This in spite of being attracted to males sometimes.

This revelation of mine has proved to be very, very different. We don't see each other, we don't speak anymore and this is not due to pandemic lockdown; we have online contact mechanisms as well as mobile phones, but on balance, I think it is a good sorting mechanism anyway. There's a lot of baggage with that family I am genetically related to but never truly felt a part of, so perhaps this is no surprise, really.

As to trying to hide onself from oneself, I have to admit to being guilty of it too. I feel a lot of shame for that, though now I understand why. I was never in a position to hurt anyone directly, because I didn't really know anyone, but the hostile thinking and expression of retrograde opinions around non-LGBTQIA+ people may have helped poison a few minds, for which I truly regret.

Great article - thanks!