One Proud Mom

I have 2 sons, Ian, 15 and Alec, 18, and a daughter, Emily, 17. I came out to them 2 years ago. They have been so supportive. They have no shame telling people their mom is gay. I’ve learned a lot about strength from them. I used to wonder why God would put me here--a lesbian in such a conservative area. I was focused on myself, but then I decided He could only have had one reason: to make a difference. Coming out and being honest about my orientation was very scary. My kids told a lot of people. They were not at all ashamed, so how could I be?

That took a lot of courage for me, but my Emily is showing real courage!

This year Emily is a senior. She and her friends have been talking about starting a GSA at their high school. The talk had died down over the summer, but just last week Emily decided it was time to get this group going. She went to her principal and explained what she was looking to do. She came home that day and told me that she would have to present to the school board her plans as well as show evidence student and staff support. She was a little overwhelmed, but determined.

Over the next few days she organized and campaigned. She found three students from each grade to volunteer as class representatives; she talked to every teacher and came away with thirteen sponsors between the middle and high schools, which is a lot for our little school!  She is really doing an amazing thing.

Yesterday we sat down after she got back from one of her meetings after school and she began to cry. She explained to me that she had no idea how much work and just how hard this would be. I explained how brave she was and how proud I am, even if she can't get the approval of the school board, what she has done has taken a lot of courage.

Then she told me that the night before she had received phone calls after she was in bed at around 11pm. The phone numbers were restricted and each call was a different person with the same message. "If you keep supporting the f***, your senior year is going to be hell." She didn't want anyone to know about the calls. She put a brave face on and conducted her meeting that day.

She is scared, but says she won’t give up. She is my hero.

One proud mom,
Melissa