Stephen, 19 years old, gay : ’I sat at T.G.I. Fridays with my dad in april of this year. I just said it, in the middle of dinner. I wasn’t going to say it, but then I did it anyways: ’Dad, there’s something, I need to tell you: ’I’m gay.’ ’He just sat there, and put his hands on his head, then he walked out. Didn’t talk to me. He emailed me later, and told me that he wasn’t paying for college anymore. You’re not allowed to come home,’ he said. ’I expected it to be different. I’m glad I got homeless in a way, because I feel it humbles me. One of my friends call it ’civilian bootcamp’, because the days before you find a shelter, you don’t sleep. It took me 5 days. I was too afraid to sleep. I finally fell asleep on a bench at Christopher Street. That’s the only time I slept,’ Stephen says.

The good news is that these days many young gays and lesbians gather the courage to come out at an earlier age than they used to only a few years back; the bad news is that many parents still do not accept the idea of having a gay child, and take the very bad decision of kicking them out of their house.

This content is restricted to subscribers

Join FotoRoom

Amateur Only €10/year	Pro Only €20/year
FotoCal (+) Open Calls (+) No banners!	FotoCal (+) Open Calls (+) The Button (+) Search (+) No banners!
Select Plan	Select Plan

Amateur

Only €10/year

Pro

Only €20/year

Select Plan

Photo Rana Nicole Young

Keep looking...

Christian van der Kooy Explores Contemporary Ukraine with His Ukrainian Girlfriend, Anastasiia

See Cuny Janssen’s Compelling Juxtapositions of Amsterdam’s Children and Trees

Prism Interiors, the Instagram Feed that Became a Photobook (Edited and Designed by Jason Fulford)

You Will Never Walk Alone — Camila Svenson Photographs the Teenagers of a Small Town in Iceland

Ian Kline’s Diaristic Photos Respond to a Time of Confusion (His and His Country’s)

Promise Me a Land — Clement Chapillon Shares His Personal Vision of Israel

Ten Female Photographers You Should Know — 2018 Edition

Beginner’s Luck — Emanuele Camerini Surveys the Objects and Stories We Associate with Luck

More...