This will mean nothing to any of you but I’ve finally come out!

Moominpapa

Well done to you @zepp76 ; - I hope this marks the start of a happy period in your life.

sev112

How fab, what wonderful news

Revolting1

Geezer , the flat situation sounds like a proper windup- is there any chance you could do the doorframes/or arrange it and get it knocked off the rent? Or is that too sensible a proposition for the landlord?

    Deep joy dude.

      

beed84

Congratulations dude. Now that you have a new lease of life, here’s some inspiration  

https://youtu.be/9zciPhWuQH0

zepp76

Kittyfrisk said:

zepp76 said:

Kittyfrisk said:

Good for you
I know from your earlier posts that life hasn't always been that kind to you.
Now that you have a new place to live & have come to terms with the real 'you', more good things can start to happen  

@Kittyfisk sorry I typed the reply to the other post before seeing yours, the new place is a no go for now as you have possibly read above. Very upsetting in all honesty.

Awww shite, I hadn't read that.
Do you think that you get some temporary 'bridging' help due to the move stalling not being down to you?
Hoping to hear some good news from you soon.
Cheers.

Hopefully there’s going to be a discretionary payment from the council as the delay in moving is not of my doing but I’d rather the money went to families that are struggling in these very uncertain times. I will happily live in a tent again if I have to if it means a family gets their rent paid because this virus has stopped the parents being able to work, you can’t expect poor kids to live rough.

Revolting1 said:

Geezer , the flat situation sounds like a proper windup- is there any chance you could do the doorframes/or arrange it and get it knocked off the rent? Or is that too sensible a proposition for the landlord?

    Deep joy dude.

      

The flat belongs to a housing association and is a new build, every flat in the building has to have the door frames redone. Completely out of my control.

KKJale

I sympathise with the old-fashioned/religious family stuff. Good on ya. 

AK99

Glad the waiting and agonising is over for you Zepp. Been through similar with a family member a while back - it was pretty tough for me - hell, at least half of my stock of Rugby jokes wiped out overnight

But on a serious note - the world has changed a lot in the last 20 years. Round here it's usually the kids lead the way in showing adults how to accept people for who and what they are, with pretty much zero tolerance for that old sexist or homophobic crap any more.

All the best for the future Zepp - you've earned it, now go enjoy it to the full

stephen.wood125

Huge congratulations, I have a good friend who was in the same situation until his late 40's it's saddening that in 2020 this is still a thing, but I'm very aware it is. Best wishes and luck for the future. Takes a lot of strength and belief to make that leap. 

Kind regards,

Teyeplayer

I hope that amidst all the chaos outside you are able to take some heart from this thread. I couldn’t help but notice that your thread title inferred no one would notice (or maybe care), so far 88 folks have commented all wishing you the best and congratulating you, whilst 1.4k cared enough to have read your thread even if they didn’t know what to say. I’d feel really reassured by that Zepp; people do care, a lot. There are better times for you ahead.

Dominic

zepp76 said:

ICBM said:

rivercider said:

Worth remembering,too, that this forum is made up of (probably!) a decent proportion of your peers, i.e people who are of a similar age and can therefore remember clearly the prejudices that would have existed in your youth (if not today too, sadly, in some quarters)....so perhaps the very peers you may have thought for years would reject you are noisily endorsing what you've done, despite any negative social programming that was around over the years.....for that we should commend everyone.This forum is indeed a great place. 

Indeed. While I am straight, I found it interesting that a lot of the boys who I was friendly with at junior school - generally the more intellectual, less sporty ones (I was never sporty really) were many of those who later turned out to be gay. I didn't stop being friends with them.

I also remember having the piss taken out of me - not by any of those boys, but by more of the 'cool' music crowd - for liking bands like Bronski Beat and Soft Cell, when they were thought of as 'gay music' rather than just 'music by people who happened to be gay'.

The irony is that this was at a minor English public school .

That is the prejudice I faced when admitting to people in my circle that I like 80’s synth pop, they are into thrash and heavy metal (as am I) and would say to me, are you Gay or something? Well, yes, I am! But not because I like a certain genre of music. I could never understand the mentality that liking a certain genre of music would affect your sexuality.

You think that's bad ?......I really liked Frankie goes to Hollywood and my best school friend was gay .
I'm straight but I'll never forgive him trying to corrupt me with a disgusting perversion.............Musical Theatre !

WiresDreamDisasters

I was always afraid to tell people I was a fan of Tool.

zepp76

Teyeplayer said:

I hope that amidst all the chaos outside you are able to take some heart from this thread. I couldn’t help but notice that your thread title inferred no one would notice (or maybe care), so far 88 folks have commented all wishing you the best and congratulating you, whilst 1.4k cared enough to have read your thread even if they didn’t know what to say. I’d feel really reassured by that Zepp; people do care, a lot. There are better times for you ahead.

You are right and I have been truly moved by the kindness and support of the fantastic people of this forum. I feel I can’t say it enough but thank you to you all, it has filled me with confidence and that is not something I have ever had a lot of. I just can’t wait to get out there when this lock down is over and dance like a complete fool to the greatest hits of Erasure! (Oops, did I say that out aloud?).

axisus

Hey, well done you! I can't imagine how hard that must be, telling people and not knowing how they will react. 

TheOtherDennis

I always have mixed feelings about someone coming out.

First, I can understand what it must be like to harbour what you consider to be a secret about yourself that you finally find the courage to admit to in public. It must be like having the weight of the world lifted off your shoulders - you have no idea how friends and family will react, and it must be terrifying as you hope it will be positive, worrying that you might lose someone close forever as a result of what they think about you. I applaud and salute you for doing what you've done and like everyone else here, I am genuinely happy that it's gone well for you.

At the same time, I feel awkward because partly it is none of our business who you do or don't want to have a relationship with. Yes, there's the innate gossipy curiosity, but if you were to turn around and tell us to bugger off and mind our own, we would have no choice but to bugger off. It's your business, not ours.

And partly because you shouldn't have to fear the reaction. There's never been anything 'wrong' with being gay or anything else, and now more than ever there should be less than no stigma attached at all. So there shouldn't be any fear about coming out or, indeed, need to come out. It shouldn't matter.

Good luck with the rest of your life, hope it all goes as well as it can.

(Not trying to pour any cold water on what you've done or the positivity that you've been shown, and apologies for any offence that may have been caused.)

DB1

Yes, well done to you for coming out and being true to yourself.

But bisexual? Come on, in these times of austerity, that's just being greedy. 

robwright

Brilliant Zepp! A heartwarming story in these surreal times! And a privilege that you share it with us mate! 
Really glad about the positive response from
those around you too - hope you respond with a clear and succinct ‘fuck off’ to any negativity! 

Reverend

Many years ago there was a oub called the Richmond Arms. In Richmond, funnily enough. It catered to a more synth pop/hi nrg crowd shall we say. My brother was in there and bumped into my mum's best friends middle son, who we used to go on joint family holidays with. 
What are you doing  here? No, what are you doing here? 
Sadly my brother died before he was able to come out to more than just me and a couolenofnhis closest friends. I always worried about wether or not inshould have told my mum but i wasnt sure it was my place to say. Academic now though. 

Im glad you have done so and glad its gone well. 

Iamnobody

DB1 said:

But bisexual? Come on, in these times of austerity, that's just been greedy. 

Surely he just means if he can’t get it he buys it?

Oh the old Bernard Manning jokes are the best...

Congrats Zepp and enjoy the freedom to live life how you want to.

prowla

Ah, Vienna...

proggy

Iamnobody said:

DB1 said:

But bisexual? Come on, in these times of austerity, that's just been greedy. 

Surely he just means if he can’t get it he buys it?

Oh the old Bernard Manning jokes are the best...

Congrats Zepp and enjoy the freedom to live life how you want to.

I thought bisexual  meant you were able to wank with both hands.