I told my Mom when I was eleven right after I had a fight with my grandmother about always having to speak French when she was there.
My father had abandoned us and pissed off back to France and left us all in southern California. My grandmother took it out on me so no help there. We get on better now but it was tough.
My mother had figured it out though and it was a relief to be able to just be me.
Since I was small I always directed my affection towards men I trusted. Between that and how I behaved with my friends she put it together. I also have a sister who is very supportive.
I’ll never bother with a lottery ticket because I already won.
When my Mom remarried, her new husband and his father became the two most important men in my life. Dad and Grampa both have the same attitude that being gay is just another facet of human existence. Nothing needs fixing or curing. I’ve talked to other boys who haven’t had it so easy. Beatings, verbal abuse or exclusion from their family’s activities. I know one boy who was thrown out of his home and had to live on the street at fourteen. Grampa took him in and found him a home with some people he knew. He’s doing pretty good now.
I know my experience is unusual, but I hope that others have one that is similar.