LGBT

as I have been with my partner for 25 years.
Growing up in the '60s and '70's was pure torture. Although my family was not religious, it was quite dysfunctional, we never really talked about anything.
I always felt alienated from society, and felt the hate and homophobia from outside, not from within my family.
However, I resented that I had to keep my secret, never knowing if I could trust my own family, and came to feel they didn't deserve to know me, since I essentially grew up isolated, with no guidance at all. A gay kid shouldn't have to come out to his parents, they should provide a healthy environment where it isn't an issue.
I have heard many people say they were afraid to tell their parents and agonized over it and lied and covered it up for years, hiding their love for their partners, growing up alone, but when they did, the parents say "oh we knew all the time." Well, the parents should have known how to help the kid through it, rather than letting him flail around without help, feeling hated, for years. I'm sure many kids committed suicide because they could not trust or tell their parents, even though the parents would have been supportive, but the kid never knew, so died, feeling alone and hated.

Well, I am going to a family reunion in a few weeks, seeing my brothers and sisters I haven's seen in years. I wonder if it will come up? My brother, while not an extremist, does have a rather Christian wife who home schools their kids. I'm not going to take any shit, let me tell you.