Submitted by Steve Plummer of Pittsburgh:
The day that our 15 year-old son came out to us was a difficult one for my wife. She did and said all the right things. Most importantly she told him it didn't change the way she felt about him in any way and that we would always love him.
But she worried.
She has no issues with gay people but she was afraid for him. Afraid he'd get sick. Afraid he'd be alone. Afraid he be a victim of a violent hate crime.
From that day on she was very open about our son's orientation and most people were accepting if not supportive. She would argue with the few who were negative about it and one of the most common arguments she encountered was about whether or not homosexuality was a choice. She believed it was not, but didn't know how to convince someone else.
Then one night during her evening commute she was listening to a talk radio show when a caller began to rant about gay people and when the familiar argument came up, the radio host responded “if homosexuality is a choice, then heterosexuality must also be a choice…can you tell me the exact moment when you ‘decided’ to be straight?”
This was the answer she was looking for and the inspiration for this project. We hope that sharing experiences will promote understanding, and we believe that understanding is a major step towards acceptance.
Please visit the project web site to learn more and contribute: My Choice Words
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