Thank you for sharing your story. This is very powerful. I too know what it’s like to hide and lie to my family about who I love. Coming out to my family was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But keeping it inside is a worse pain. And I will say I have definitely been surprised with how loving and accepting my family has been even though many of them still do not agree with my lifestyle. “Can not I fall in love with someone because of their being rather than their gender?” I love how you phrased that. People are people, we get so focused on what is considered a “normal” relationship of male and female that we don’t let love reach it’s full potential. I grew up “straight” in every sense of the word and didn’t realize I had the capacity to be gay until my wife @betterbeing came into my life and stole my heart. I loved her for who she was and gender didn’t matter. I loved her essence, her being. That’s what’s really important. Forcing ourselves to conform to societal and social norms is doing the whole of humanity a disservice.