“Right Side” Human Rights Defender NGO continues to present the series of stories of Trans LGBIQ+ people and sex workers, through which various events of their life are collected and recorded. The purpose of the interviews is to present the lifestyle of the representatives of the mentioned group in the Republic of Armenia.
This story is about coming out. Our interlocutor is homosexual, agender A.B. Family solidarity was very important for A.B., he did his best not to have conflicts with the family members while learning about his identity.
– Many people around me know about my sexual orientation. I mean my family, my relatives and friends, my acquaintances, as well as my fellow villagers (I live in one of the villages near Yerevan). And everyone is still with me. Why it is important for me to mention this, because everyone treats me adequately and everything is normal in my relations with the mentioned people. Well, it is already clear that I have publicly revealed my identity. But there are some people that are extremely important to me. Many people knew that I was in Shurnukh, where the mob attacked us and started using violence against us. When I finally got home after Shurnukh incidents, everything was already clear to my family. I was lying down, my mother approached me and said: “Okay, I’ll try to give you time.” During those days I was in such a bad psychological situation that I could not even continue my work even in an organization dealing with LGBT+ people’s issues. However, the statement made by my mother hurt me, because I also realized that my mother understood everything and knew about my identity. When my mother was sitting outside, I approached her and, by sitting next to her, said that I was gay. My mother hugged me and said that she had already understood everything, but that did not stop her from being proud of me. Moreover, she gave me some advice that I should be proud of who I was, how many achievements I had, etc. – our interlocutor introduced and continued that after that day, he and his mother formed a perfect friendship and a warmer relationship. – From that moment I realized that I had the best mother in the world, which was perfect for me.
A.B. continues to present his relationship with his mother and says that everything can not have ended so well if he have not worked with his parents for years. He says that they have watched movies together many times, which tell about LGBT+ people, had discussions, listened to each other, freely expressed their opinion, etc. He continues to talk about his mother’s feelings when she has seemed to be the only mother in the world to have a gay son. However, this issue has also found its solution when she has got acquainted with the parents of LGBT+ people.
-This story can go on for a long time, because my relationship with my mother does not begin and end with this story, every day is a story, but for me it is one of the most important things that has happened in my life, -our interlocutor concludes.
Jan 13, 2021 Armenia Yerevan
