Would You Wear This?

We've received a lot of emails and messages since the launch of Ears Wide Open?, and we'd like to thank those of you who've written and shared your stories with us. We are both humbled and honored that so many of you have taken the time to tell us about your own journeys. Some of your stories have made us laugh, while others have reduced us to tears. Tonight, with the permission of the person who wrote to us, we'd like to share one of those special stories with you.

"My name is Joe, and I am 57 years old. I live in a mid-size town in rural Texas, and I am gay. I am blessed to have been with my partner John for 32 years after meeting him when we were in grad school. We are both professionals, and we have good jobs. John lives in a town about 35 miles from the town I live in, and for the last 20 years we have had to meet in a different town to spend time together. Our families are conservative Christians and my father was a minister until he retired. No one in our families know that we are gay. None of our friends know that we are gay. We have lived our lives in the closet because of two reasons: fear of condemnation and judgment from our churches; and not wanting to disgrace our families. I am writing to thank you for having the courage to post your video and to tell you that I, too, wanted to die, and so did John. I have a theory that many gay people in our generation have contemplated suicide at one time or another in their lives, if not actually made an attempt. The message in your video is one that needs to be heard and is one that hopefully will save lives. The cards at the beginning of your story that talk about spending your life trying to please everyone and believing that you shouldn't be who you are resonated with John and me. Those who believe that being gay is as much of a choice as what shirt a person chooses to wear each day, I would ask this question: would you wear this? Thank you again for posting your video. Joe"