At the time I was seeing a psychologist about some anxiety issues (probably in part due to the fact that I was a closeted guy). With her support, I hatched a plan to come out to my Mum (being my only parent still alive). I booked an appointment and casually asked Mum if she could come along because me and the psychologist thought it would be good to do a check-in on how my treatment was going. She agreed, and so the date was set. Now, the particular day of the appointment was the school athletics day, and so in (house) pride, I dressed up in orange. Orange, weirdly, is not a colour you tend to find just lying around in your closet (ahaha, pun not intended), so I borrowed one from my friend who, at the time, I had a crush on. Honestly, I would've worn any of his clothes regardless of colour just so I could feel close to him, but that's another story.
Anyway, to top off my look I had orange stripes painted on my face, but planned to wash them off before turning up to my appointment and coming out as casually as possible. This is where things started to go wrong. First off, I had the time written wrong in my phone, so I get a call from my Mum asking where I am. Luckily, my psychologist wasn't far from my High School, so I was able to drive there pretty quickly. Unfortunately, this meant I did not have time to wash off my fabulous tiger stripes.
In the end I came out to my Mum in my psychologist's office while wearing a bright orange t-shirt from my current infatuation and with stripes painted on my cheeks. A pretty tame experience (she was fine with my orientation), but I certainly did it in style. From that day, I'd never look at orange the same way again!
A pretty tame experience (she was fine with my orientation), but I certainly did it in style.
Not everyone can be as fortunate as me to be able to afford support through a psychologist/counsellor etc, but if you can I would really recommend it. It puts you in a nice neutral space where there is someone external to observe and provide support should the situation become heavy. Another thing I will say is that if you are closeted, PLEASE COME OUT! I know it seems scary, but the world is so much brighter and just freer when you are yourself and own it.
