I’m Alice,
I live in England and come from a religious family.
We weren’t the type of family that only listens to gospel songs or anything but,
we went to church every Sunday,
prayed, and led a pretty normal life.
I made many friends from church and Sunday school,
but there was one who was,
and still is my best friend.
His name is Tyler
and we’ve been friends since we learnt how to walk.
Although we went to different schools,
our parents got along
and we’d see each other almost every weekend and every day after school.
His parents were a lot stricter and a lot more religious than mine
and would hardly let him have any friends
unless they fitted in perfectly to what they would class as a 'good person',
in fact,
I was one of the only people he was actually allowed to see privately.
He could only listen to certain songs,
watch certain tv shows
and really had a strict set of rules to live by,
the biggest issue his parents had
was with homosexuals,
under no circumstances was he allowed any gay friends.
And that was the biggest problem!
I remember being around 8 or 9 years old
when we’d sneak into my brother's room to play with his gaming cards,
but then,
I'd catch him looking at a picture of my brother,
gazing and becoming lost in his own thoughts.
I didn’t think much of it at the time
until I began to notice he was flirting with boys
more and more.
He was extremely feminine
and loved to do his nails,
talk to girls and play with makeup.
The more I noticed these things
the more I knew he was gay,
but,
I didn’t know how to bring it up and talk to him about it.
When his parents started to have ideas about what was going on,
they were having none of it.
One day,
he was caught putting on his mother’s makeup.
The next day,
I saw him with a bruise on his wrist,
he explained that his father grabbed him so hard
that the ring he was wearing began digging into his arm
leaving him with a bruise.
Things only got worse from here on.
Fast forward a few years
and we’re 15 years old,
we were just talking on his bed
when his parents came crashing into his room,
his dad with a belt in his hand
and his mother holding a computer.
I looked up,
first to see the anger in his dads face
and then to the screen!
On the screen was a picture,
a picture of him and a boy holding hands on a bed.
I could see the fear in Tyler’s face.
He was trying to convince them it wasn’t gay,
it was just a friend.
I knew that if I did nothing right then,
things would get much worse.
I took a large gulp and said,
“he’s not gay!
He...
He’s my boyfriend”.
Tyler, and his parents both looked equally as shocked.
Tyler’s father then said,
“well,
if he is, then why don’t you prove it?!”
I paused for a minute,
looked deeply into his eyes
and then
locked lips with him.
It probably only lasted a few seconds
but it felt like an eternity,
I could hear nothing apart from my heart beating
and my own thoughts racing through my head...
Was I doing the right thing?
How was he going to react?
For all I knew he could have pushed me away,
and then things could have gotten real bad...
For both of us!
As soon as it was over,
I looked into Tyler's eyes
and straight away I knew I’d done the right thing.
We both looked to his parents
who were already retreating backwards in shock,
his father still staring Tyler down as he backed out of the room.
As the door clicked shut, Tyler turned to me,
gave me a massive hug and began to cry.
He was so grateful,
but at the same time,
he was scared of what would happen if his parents ever found out the truth.
He said to me
"If my parents knew I was gay,
they’d disown me!
Leave me on the streets!"
The whole next week,
Tyler's words haunted me...
I knew how strict his parents were,
and I understood their beliefs,
but,
I was also sure they loved him, and
I was sure they wouldn't see him left on the streets.
I had to speak with him,
but I didn't want to do it at his house
where it would have been awkward for everyone.
That weekend I met Tyler in the park,
and he looked at me, embarrassed and shy,
and once again said to me
"I've known for years, but
I didn't know how to tell you",
he sat and poured his heart out to me
and I just listened and
gave him occasional reassurance.
The longer he spoke to me,
the more I could see the weight being lifted from his shoulders,
the conversation went from being a dark, upsetting one,
to a friendly chat about feelings
that should have happened years ago, and I wish it had,
I could see the pressure he had been carrying
all on his own when really he just needed someone to talk too
and a friendly shoulder to cry on.
Tyler knew this was going to be a long road,
but getting all of that off his chest to me gave him masses of confidence
and for the first time in his life,
he could see how things might not actually be that bad at all.
Tyler has since come out to his friends and family
and although his parents didn't agree with his choice,
they did accept it, and still love him for who he is,
not only that,
but he had full support from all of his friends,
so every time he couldn't turn to his parents for advice and understanding,
his friends were never far away.
As for me,
well,
I'm happy I was there for my best friend in his darkest hour,
when he most needed someone to be there for him,
and I look forward to many more great years of our friendship.