Edward Thomas Ryan, after dying at 85, came out as gay in his obituary. For decades, he was in the closet and hid his 25-year relationship from nearly everyone.
I was in the closet until I was 33. Like all of us who've been there, it is a hard, sad, lonely place to be, feeling the need to hide a core part of our hearts. I feel for him and his partner. In spite of the world, they did find love and shelter in each other, so they did have happiness.
This is why Pride exists. It isn't arrogance. It's the fight to be ourselves in the light. It's also the fight to allow others like us to feel safe enough so they can experience the same. All of us owe the ones who put themselves on the line to give us that chance to be free. Gratitude and struggle.
It's awful that the haters that make up Christian & Catholic 💀⛪️💀Amurikuh made him live 85 years inauthentically so that he only could be himself in death.
