Coming Out - It Only Took Fifty Years

I knew I was gay at age eight when my mother's definition of queer described me perfectly. I hid my truth and left small town Pennsylvania for the city life of Washington, DC. immediately after college graduation. My mother carried memories of tragic family deaths and a lesbian encounter of her own. When she questioned my lifestyle and said she would "blame herself and not know what to do for the rest of her life," I thought she might take her own life so, I lied. My father, raised in the non-traditional life of circus performers, unleashed me to be whoever I wanted to be but I continued my double life of straight daughter and gay lover. Then becoming a teacher and high school principal, I also lived a secret nocturnal life-my triple life. Bartending in shady parts of D.C., I was hit by a rock, saw a gun pulled on my friend, and witnessed fights, arrests, and marches that pitted straights against gays. I jumped from girlfriend to girlfriend, courted a few straight girls, and dabbled in activities far different from the straight educator I portrayed by day. On the day of my father's funeral, my mother proclaimed her recognition of my gayness. What I hoped would be a celebration of love and openness was anticlimactic. I had wasted too many years. My father was gone, and I had lost friends rather than share my truth. Against the backdrop of the burgeoning LGBTQ movement, I became a courageous trailblazer and did my own coming out in a big way, I married a woman. Now I share my truth with the world and enjoy the happiness that honesty has given me. Do not make the mistakes I made. Openly love who you love.

• | Author: Janis E. Mills
• | Publisher: Desert Palm Press
• | Publication Date: Sep 19, 2021
• | Number of Pages: 150 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1954213212
• | ISBN-13: 9781954213210