Simon,
Glad you told your mother and you are stepping out of the closet.
But be careful with whom you open the door.
I have had coworkers in the past who were gay but in the closet at least at work. I was the only one that knew. Watching them hide who they were was not fun. Having to be careful of what you said and to whom is tiring. And that was for me the straight guy.
For them it was very hard.
At one job I was a contractor at a very large gay friendly company. A couple of my coworkers where a couple but I was the only one that knew. The company announced a benefit change that allowed gay partners to share benefits. My friend and I were discussing the change one day trying to figure out HOW the company knew two people were a couple. Two straight people would be married and have a wedding license. So what was a gay couple to do?
In walked our manager.
How timely.
So we asked.
Oh my. The manager went on a anti gay rant like you would not believe.
It was kinda interesting to watch and listen too though.
At that point we had the manager by the you know whats. That rant would have gotten him fired. While I could have easily been fired as a contractor I told the coworker if they wanted to push the issue I would be more than willing to back the coworker up.
The coworker did not push the issue.
The managers anti gay rant was a shock to both of us. We had known him for years. Never did we get a hint that he was like this. The manager thought he was safe in saying what he did because he thought I and the other person in the office were straight. The other person had been married and the ex spouse was known by the manager.
The coworker kept quiet to protect the ex spouse as well as the new partner. The manager was let go from the company a few years down the road for some issue I am not privy too.
I cannot think that being in the closet is healthy for a person and opening the closet door has to be better for a person long term. There are sure to be bumps in the road as you find people like my Ex manager. But they will eventually be an Ex one way or the other and you will be better off.
Later,
Dan
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