You see, I am a gay man
But is this word enough to describe me? There are many facets of my life
I am 22-years-old and a geography geek who has an affinity for learning about different cultures of the world
My friends call me Wikipedia (I’m not proud of this name though)
But my homosexuality gives me a hard time living ‘normally’
My parents are one of those typical Sub-continental parents who have sacrificed their happiness to provide for their children
They have worked hard to give me a life of plenty
I remember, as a kid, my father riding our scooter with my mother sitting at the back, my younger brother in her lap and I standing in front of my father’s seat, while my father would juggle around my head to get a clear view of the road
With parents like that, you would want to make them proud of you in any way possible
But God had something else in store for me
Why did I find my male Math’s teacher more attractive than my female chemistry teacher about whom every boy in the class was talking? I’d just nod my head during their conversation wondering why I didn’t feel the same way
Boys would look at girls and girls would blush
Why did it not make any sense to me? Why could I not relate to it? With time I understood what I was and, believe me, I hated myself to the core
I tried imagining being sexually intimate with the most beautiful girl in the class but then I felt a strange uneasiness which wouldn’t go until I removed that thought from my head or imagined myself with another guy
Now when I think about my parents, I feel guilt, shame, anger and fear, all at the same time
I can’t look my parents in the eye because I feel I am not enough of a son to them
All the things that I have strived for, in my life, to make them proud of me, will all go in vain because they will hate me when the truth comes out
I’ll shame them in society
I don’t fear how my homosexuality is going to affect me; it’s how it will affect my parents that frightens me the most
I fear that when the truth comes out, my employer will fire me, my landlord will throw me out
And so, I choose to remain in the closet, fiercely burying my sexuality deep within myself, covering it with a smile on my face but crying at the core of my heart
It breaks me from within every day, with every breath that I take
I feel hollow
I want to share my feelings with someone who is willing to hear me, but is there anyone I can trust? I cry in loneliness
Depression is like my shadow, it follows me where ever I go
My homosexuality is an intrinsic part of my life, it’s as inseparable to me as is your heterosexuality, the only difference is – I have to hide it from everyone
Mine is a lifelong training program
Don’t look at that man for too long and try looking at that girl a little longer
Don’t forget to tell your friends how beautiful and sexy the girl who just passed by you was
They ask how a man can love another man when you have so many beautiful women available
Women are beautiful, no doubt
In fact, I feel they are the best creation of God and I respect them a lot
But I’m a person who visits a garden, admires the flowers and then moves on without plucking them
However inappropriate that sentence may seem to be, this is the way I feel about women
To those who say I chose to be gay, I ask them why I would choose to lead such a harsh life where my future looks nothing but bleak, especially when I could just ‘choose’ to be straight instead? Put hate aside and try to empathise with me for one second
Just once
To those who say I should change my sexual orientation, I ask them to try not be attracted to the opposite gender and see how much you can succeed
Please break yourself from the gay stereotype; we are as ‘normal’ behaving as any heterosexual person can be
We are not a hate material or a laughing stock – we are as human as you! I want this platform to be an outlet for you to communicate with me, a homosexual, and to do away with all the prejudice that you have about me
I may be gay, but that is not all that I am
| Date: | 21-Mar-2015 | Reference: | View Original Link |
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