Growing Through the Pain
by Anita Worthen
My son, a homosexual? I felt overwhelmed with guilt and shame and determined to "fix" him at any cost.
My face flushed with embarrassment, but I kept my voice calm. "Tony, I want to know where you are. When you don’t come home, I’ve got to know who to call."
We argued for several minutes, then he dropped the bombshell. "Well, you know I'm gay, don't you?" My mind froze. Tony began filling the awkward silence with horrifying details. Three months before, he'd been hitchhiking home when a school counselor had picked him up and seduced him. Now he
- Anita Worthen
Silent no more
As long as I remember, I was different and in South Africa where I grew up, there is a myth: if you walk under a rainbow it will change your sex. I tried running under every rainbow I saw! My parents once admitted to me they had wanted a boy; when I came out as a girl, they often treated me as a boy. I wasn’t angry with this because I actually wanted to be a boy.
As a child, my parents fought a lot. My dad was easily angered. I was told I pushed my father away since I was four. Growing up, I always felt uneasy around men.
We attended church on Sundays. Our church didn’t teach
July 20, 2016 - Wilna van Beek