excellent story, well presented. No disrespect, but you need to remember that IF anyone has a problem with you being gay, remind yourself 1) you need to give others TIME to absorb what you have revealed, and 2) recognize its THEIR problem, not yours, and 3) NEVER EVER apologize for who you are - if you made an error or mistake, or inadvertantly hurt someone, then apologize for that, but NEVER apologize for who you are. It'll take a long time for you to achieve what you are wanting, but understand that some people may not be able to deal with you being gay. Religion poisons EVERYTHING and often that is the source of their views. You are intelligent, handsome and everu human deserves whatever happiness they can achieve in life.

Hoi, Steven: ......Sharing your life story and your courage demonstrate what a superb person you are. Thank you, R.T. Thomes (Amsyerdam, The Netherlands)

Steven, I just came across this and it is so beautiful. Tho I am older, I can relate. I didn't come out until I was 50! And it caused great consternation with my now ex-wife and 4 children, and my church that I left after serving 18 years. Like you, rebuilding relationships is hard. Although I see all my children from time to time, they don't want to hear about my gay life. In fact, none of them will even be friends with me on Facebook. I trust things will improve with your mother. But if not, you've done the best you can do and you should be very proud of yourself. I don't know if you'll even see this comment, but if you do, know that you are greatly loved by God. And if you feel so inclined, please let me know how your life is doing.

Love love love this video. Inspiration doesn't come much better than this. I am a gay man and while my family were okay with it I know people who are in your position. Coming out is one of the hardest things to do ever and I couldn't do it face to face but in a letter. I have since spoken to many gay guys and girls on the subject and their conversations are part of a book I'm writing on this subject. Like you if it helps one person then it's worth it. Thanks for being so brace and hope your mom came around, a parents love should be unconditional.

Great video. Wish I had such guidance when I was young. And your mom will come around. Some people take time. But it seems she's good at heart, after all she did raise a wonderful child. Thanks.

Sorry about your mother. Keep making her happy. She will tell you she is sorry some time, maybe not in many years, but she will. Thank for sharing your story. Be proud, boy! You're beautiful and smart. Your story will mean much to someone out there. You've come furter than many ever does.

I hope when I'm watching this now 7 years later in 2023.. Im hoping you are well and that everyone in your life is good now.

You are brave for coming out and brave for posting this. Hugs man. Hugs. :)

It’s good to give back to your family because they raised you and took care of you, but you have your own life to live and you owe it to yourself to fulfill that. If your mother cannot accept you for who you really are then it is not your job to restrict your life to live in accord with her view of who she thinks too should be. It may be time to move on and create a separate life from your family of birth, one who will love you for who you really are. You can continue to love and support them but more from a distance. Only you can be your best self, only you can fulfill your dream for a happy life. Your mother cannot do that under even the best of circumstances.

You're amazing.

Thank you for sharing your story in such a sincere and articulate way. It has been a great help to me. You are a wonderful person. Many God continue to bless you with happiness and love. Thanks again.

If you live an honest, hard working life and treat people with respect you have done all that you need to do to make your family happy. The rest is for you to make yourself happy. Your mom will come around, or she won’t. Either way go live your best life.

Just keep being you.. :)

Stay strong! I wish you the bestl!

i 100% agree with you love is love you need to hold your head up Nothing is wrong with that i love you ok so 😃 it will get better.

Your generous spirit was evident as you made this video...

I can relate to you so much... Thank you for sharing your experience. I wish you the best.

Hang in there Steven your a great guy a loving guy. you deserve to be loved Ron

OMG, Steven you are so special! It's been 4 years, and I hope your life is totally awesome. Your mom simply knows more about you than your brown hair, brown eyes and beautiful face and heart! She know who you really are ... she should praise God for YOU.

Awesome story from an awesome young man!

JUST LOVE AND ACCEPT WHO YOU ARE AND STAY STRONG!

Thanks for telling your story. I hope you make more videos.. Love is the answer. You are loved and I know you will feel love. Love you.

Thanks for sharing your story.

Well done!!!!!! Amazing video you did!!! Your Mom will come around give her time. Your parents should be very proud of you!!! They raised a handsome young man who wants to help them! You don't find a young guy like you wanting to do that! Your simply amazing the guy who ends up with you is going to be a lucky guy because he is getting a TRUE GEM!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for telling me that I am important!!!!!

Hello Steven, I hope these past 8 years and 6 years since you've told your family have brought you happiness. Please just keep in mind that it's your moms unhappiness that she has been carrying around these past 7 years not yours. I just will never understand how a parent could not support their children. Anyway, much love my brother and and I hope things have gotten better between you and your mon. FREEDOM.....

I found your story very moving. Thank you for sharing this.

happy birthday D love ya!

Hello Steven, I just found you/ your video. I applaud you. I am impressed by you. I understand that this is coming 5 years to late, but you are an impressive Man. (then you wanting to help other, in and through their journey of life) Once again you Impress me. I do hope that you are doing well, and that you accept yourself and your family accepts you too, but if YOU need to talk to anyone, I am HERE for you. Stay strong, and keep being the amazing Man you are. All my Love and Respect to you. Sincerely Richard

good job 4 this video we love u

Thank you for sharing your story. I wish I had your courage. Hugs!

Well spoken. Wishing you strength and happiness.

Thanks for sharing your story, Steven. I'm a couple years older than you but still have not come out to anyone in my family yet. I hope your mother will come to understand and accept you for who you are, eventually. She may just need some time to get over/ move past what she imagined you to be, up until the moment you came out to her.

Steven, please know that you are a blessing to our LGBTQ+ community. Thank you for this video.

great story and great video !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May the best possible life follow you and be your future always! Hugs little brother! Thanx for sharing this! =D

You have to be true to who you really are. Coming out lets you be open and honest and means people cannot so easily use it as a secret against you. -- If people, including family, cannot accept that after a reasonable amount of time to digest the news, then you have to face that they my not ever accept it, and then you have to decide what is best for YOUR life, and whether to include them anymore. -- It is good love your family and want to provide for them. But you cannot live as an extension of them. You are your own person as an adult. (Believe me, I didn't understand this, and let it restrict my life and happiness for years. My family's gone, but my life was permanently affected by not becoming independent enough and not coming out and insisting more.) --

Congratulations on your coming out, I hope your courage inspires others. Parents can surprise you. Both of my parents took a stand to support me that I only found out about long after the fact. Dad stood up for me with one of my older brothers at my nephew's wedding to ensure that my husband was included in the family photos, and Mom made sure that her church would be welcoming to me when I visited her after Dad passed away.

“The road to happiness not necessarily has to be straight “ Sylvana Puccini

I like your video and found it heavy. If i was your age it would be easy but having grown up family it seems impossible to do. Where do i go next is hard to decide.

100% correct

You need to be happy and be who you are, lying is not the answer.

It sucks to coming out. I feel like a criminal. I did it, it went pretty well, but I know that fear. I don't wish anyone to survive this.

Hey Steven I just wanted to let you know your such an amazing person and keep one thing in mind no matter how bad you and I think we have it there is always someone out there who has it 10 times worse and yes your mother will come around and no you came out then you were ready yes just show them that you are still going to be the same person you were but now they know something they didn't know before ohh and by the way your cute 😂💯🙊💞 just figured you should know that

You're inspiring. Thank you for this.

❤️

If parents or other family cannot accept that their child (relative) is gay, either as a minor or an adult -- then that parent (relative) needs to step back and rethink. Do you really want to exclude your child from your life? Do you really want to give them the message that if they are gay, you cannot get past that and cannot really love and accept and understand them? Would you really rather your child was dead? Would you really rather bury that child than to have him/her be a happy, gay, living, thriving person with friends and love and a future? Because that's how some people act and what they say. If you'd rather not have your gay child in your life and know they're happy and how they're doing and who they like and love; or if you'd rather your child was dead than to be gay -- then what is wrong with your head, your heart, and your guts? -- If my parents EVER knew and accepted that I was gay, they never managed to let me know it was OK with them, or that they knew. As a pre-teen and teen, I grew up believing I could never talk to them about anything like that. As a young adult, I came to feel that if they didn't accept me for being gay, if they couldn't understand that about me, something so central to who I was, and something that had always been a part of me, then I came to feel that they didn't truly love me, at least not unconditionally. It became an emotional distance between us, a rift that never was resolved. I think they didn't want to see it, didn't want it to be there, so they chose not to see it, not to say anything, not to let me know they loved me, even if I was gay. I had mostly good parents, and a mosty good, loving relationship with them. But they were too controlling, and in this one vital part of who I was, they just totally let me down. I love them, I miss them, but I also feel terribly let down and hurt by their lack of acknowledgement or acceptance of me being gay. -- So to parents who won't stop themselves and accept their own child, whether adult or minor, I say, get your heart back in the right place! -- Being gay is about loving another person who happens to be the same sex. It is not about hating or hurting or excluding or taking advantage. Therefore it is not wrong or perverse or sinful. It is about LOVE and fulfillment with someone special. It just happens to be that gay people love and are attracted to the same sex, the way straight people have feelings for the opposite sex. Not wrong, just different, and as natural to them as it is to straight people. So if you want a relationship with your child, then get over it. Or you will lose their love because you abandoned their love first. I wish my parents had truly loved me, instead of putting conditions on it. I wish if they did accept me, they could have gotten over themselves and let me know. You don't want your child's memories of you to be tinged by the feeling that you could not get past a central fact of their being, something at the core of their feelings, their love for others. I wish people would understand and quit hating and turning away. What kind of parent dumps their child, or makes them feel unloved, unwanted? It's not right to refuse to love your gay child. It is fine for them to love someone of the same sex. Rethink what's in your heart, not what's in your head from what other people told you all your life. Love your gay family and friends. They only want to love and be loved. Don't push them away and leave them out, or you'll be the one who's wrong, not them.

I especially liked the last thing you said “You are important.” That needs to be said by every gay person to themselves every day. Thank you!

I hope your mom has come around. If not- a lot of people have had to cut off a parent until they can accept their kid. Sounds like the parent usually changes. Glad you’re happy.

Nice job! Love & Happiness in the future.

hey baby just give her time cause it took my mom about 2 yrs be 4 she came to except n talk to me agian

Don't give people your power. Trust me keep it for yourself you will need it. Gay men are the strongest, because we have been fighting all of our lives.

❤️💥😀⚡️🌈

hi 50

You kind of remind me of Ben Affleck!

Remember, being Gay is NOT a choice. Being Bisexual IS a choice, i.e., being attracted to both sexes is a CHOICE. You choose either boy or girl. But being Gay, you're only attracted to the same sex (not a choice). Straight people are only attracted to the opposite sex. If a Straight person argues that it's a choice, all you need to say is the following: "You, who are straight, chose to be with the opposite sex. That means you were attracted to BOTH sexes and CHOSE the opposite sex, right?" You'll then hear a pin drop on the carpet, and he or she will be at a loss for words. God does not make mistakes in his infinite wisdom, where a certain percentage of the population is Gay. Why is a certain percentage of the population left handed, while the majority is right handed? Same analogy. Countless Gay, as well as Straight, are loving, caring, sharing, and productive human beings. Period and end of story.

My gaydar must be off, If I saw you walking down the street I would never think you were gay. You seem like a nice guy, keep being who you are.

I AM IMPORTANT----To whom??? I'm going on 70, with no friends, hardly any family, living like a hermit...awfully lonely, very unhappy, and hopeless!! I wish I could share my story with you, but at 70 it's too long....very interesting, but too long!

Don't try to make your family happy. Make yourself happy. That probably means going to the big city for a while to build connections to other gay guys. Make yourself confident, strong, and mature. THEN help your family.

Excellent video. Thank you for sharing your story. Just one thing: it is NOT your responsibility to make your mother happy. Y I u are a beautiful y I understand Gay man. If she can not accept that, it's her problem, not yours. She should go to a therapist. This is not a Gay person's responsibility.

WOW, what you were saying about Love & Human, if everybody was that caring. You are way more mature that most your age.

I am gay and I have not came out , I will come out with the one I love