HELP! I’m Panicking About Coming Out To My Religious Family

"They're crazy religious and unpredictable."
From: NewNowNext

A Muslim teen in the UK has turned to Reddit in a panic, fearful that his parents are about learn he is gay.

Last night 15-year-old user ” _bagels” shared his story on the LGBT subreddit:

I guess I might be coming out soon. I honestly don’t know what to do. My parents are crazy religious and really unpredictable. The optimistic side of me is thinking they’d accept it, but it’s pretty much obvious they won’t.

I just need advice. Advice on what to do if they kick me out, try to move me away, take me out of school, send me to a distant relative in some small rural village within Pakistan.

At this point, anything is a possibility to me. I have no idea how to handle this or what to say when they start asking questions, I’m just at a blank.

Urged by other users to stay in the closet if his safety is in jeopardy, _bagels explained that his parents have practically forced it out of him.

“I don’t think it’s really going to be my decision,” he writes, “I’m always getting trapped in certain arguments and threats of ’We’ll talk later.’ It’s gonna have to happen.”

“I kinda get cornered into situations where I’m being interrogated about things,” he adds.

“Like if I wanted to not bring my parents to school or around people I knew (because I’m afraid they’d say something about it). They’d get me in places where I don’t have a way out unless I distract them with something else.”

He revealed that he talked to his dad about his sexuality once, “with the promise I’d ’get over it’ when I leave school. I’ve got maybe less than a year.”

Obviously dependent on his parents, _bagels says his options are limited: “I have friends who’d let me stay with them but my relatives are just as conservative, maybe more.”

Some users suggested he reach out to an LGBT help center, like the UK’s The Albert Kennedy Trust, which helps 16-25 year olds who are homeless or living in hostile environments.

But at 15, he still would have to wait to take advantage of their services.

What would you suggest? Share your advice in the comments section below.