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Janet J’s Story
The day started out normally enough. Glyn, 19, was home from university for the weekend. He was due to leave on the Sunday afternoon, so we went out for an early pub lunch. My husband and I both had our mouths full of roast beef when, in a quiet voice, Glyn broke the silence with ‘I’ve got something to tell you – I’m gay’. Now, some parents say they already had their suspicions, but not us, not an inkling. The thoughts rushed through my head: what had we done to cause this, had I mothered him too much? Was this a passing phase? Glyn assured us that he’d known since his early teens that he was gay, and that he was sure it was just the way he was born. After all, his older brother was brought up in the same way and he was straight. Then the worries set in: surely he’d be dead with AIDS before the year was out; if not that, then he’d get beaten up every time he went out. He’d always be sad and lonely, and would be discriminated against in every aspect of life.
Glyn had ...
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