It can be very difficult for teens to come out of the closet for fear of being bullied, persecuted and discriminated by the society as well as the worry of disappointing their parents. However, a teen's parents from Texas recently put out a newspaper ad to celebrate their son's coming out.
Texas Observer reports that the gay teen celebrated by his parents through a Houston Chronicle newspaper ad is a high school senior named Drake Wilson. The teenage lad is a church deacon, a tennis team captain, an Associated Student Body vice president and a member of National Health Service.
"I couldn't think of a better place than Houston, out of the entire country, where they needed to hear my message of pride," Joan Wilson, mother of Drake, told Texas Observer. "My announcement was my way of humanizing the issue."
The mother also revealed that their family believes that Drake was created by God and was born gay. She has also started a group that celebrates children from the LGBT community. "We are blessed to live in a state which has passed anti-discrimination laws," she added.
Drake shared his thoughts on his family's support through his coming-out video posted on YouTube, "I would just like to say a big thank you to my whole family for being an example of how all families should be, and I'm thankful to all the men and women before me who have gotten this world to a place where I can come out at even only at 16."
About Relationships noted some of the reasons why it is very difficult for teens to come out of the closet. The reasons include fear of being rejected by their parents and family, losing friends, getting bullied and being stereotyped. It also wrote the negative effects of bullying gay people which include lowered self-esteem, suicidal tendencies, depression and learning difficulties at school.
