Coming Out - It Only Took Fifty Years - Softcover

Mills, Janis E

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1954213212 ISBN 13: 9781954213210

Publisher: Desert Palm Press, 2021

Synopsis

I knew I was gay at age eight when my mother's definition of queer described me perfectly. I hid my truth and left small town Pennsylvania for the city life of Washington, DC. immediately after college graduation.

My mother carried memories of tragic family deaths and a lesbian encounter of her own. When she questioned my lifestyle and said she would "blame herself and not know what to do for the rest of her life," I thought she might take her own life so, I lied. My father, raised in the non-traditional life of circus performers, unleashed me to be whoever I wanted to be but I continued my double life of straight daughter and gay lover.

Then becoming a teacher and high school principal, I also lived a secret nocturnal life-my triple life. Bartending in shady parts of D.C., I was hit by a rock, saw a gun pulled on my friend, and witnessed fights, arrests, and marches that pitted straights against gays. I jumped from girlfriend to girlfriend, courted a few straight girls, and dabbled in activities far different from the straight educator I portrayed by day.

On the day of my father's funeral, my mother proclaimed her recognition of my gayness. What I hoped would be a celebration of love and openness was anticlimactic. I had wasted too many years. My father was gone, and I had lost friends rather than share my truth.

Against the backdrop of the burgeoning LGBTQ movement, I became a courageous trailblazer and did my own coming out in a big way, I married a woman. Now I share my truth with the world and enjoy the happiness that honesty has given me.

Do not make the mistakes I made. Openly love who you love.

Edition details

• Publisher: Desert Palm Press
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1954213212
• ISBN 13: 9781954213210
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 150