“I came out when I was 21….I’d been almost one year thinking about it. I’d met somebody and was happy. I was going to wait until I graduated though to make my Mum proud and so they’d balance each other out. Mum picked me up from Belfast Airport. Mum started polite conversation, asking lots of questions and she asked if I had any relationships at the moment. I wanted to tell her the truth but I wasn’t prepared. I wanted to sit around a table, not when we were driving. I must have hestitated because she said ‘What is it? Who is it?’. She was worried then, asking if I was pregant or sick. She put her hand on me and said “I’m your mother, there’s nothing you can’t tell me”.
I said “I’m happy, I’m in love and her name is…”. Mum looked shocked and then asked more questions. “How long have you been together?”, “could it still be a phase?”. She said it wasn’t an easy decision and wondered if I’d really thought about it. Then she said “Don’t tell your brother” and I said “I already have”. That was when she got upset. She hadn’t displayed much emotion. She fell silent and looked like she might cry. It probably hurt her quite a bit telling my younger brother first.
Two days later she handed me a gift – a book of poetry called ‘A Mother’s Love for her Daughter’.”