“I knew I was gay when I was about 12 years old. I didn’t want to be gay. When I was older I married my then boyfriend at the time. When I came out to him he said he’d always known – I’d been with him for 2 years. We stayed friends because the marriage was more like a friendship – it wasn’t physical.
When I told my mum said “that’s disgusting, you’re not one of them are you?” – “what about your poor kids?”. I was absolutely devastated. I was in tears and she sad “get out of my house” and we didn’t talk for 4 years.
And then we started talking again and she sort of accepted me again because she’d fallen out with my sister – that’s what I think it was. I don’t think it was because she’d resolved her feelings. About a year after talking to her again I told her I was a boy. I was in floods of tears on the floor. She said “You’re no child of mine – you’re ‘it’ as far as I’m concerned. I don’t want anything to do with you anymore unless you turn up at my door in a dress”. And that’s been it – she doesn’t want anything to do with me. Mum was always against gays – very homophobic.
I want to move house because she keeps sending me hate mail.”