Personal Narrative Essay - My Straight Father personal narrative essays

My Straight Father

I think for most gay sons, it's difficult (if not impossible) to talk with our fathers about our lives. We make our world queerly ironic when we don't tell the people we love how we perceive our world. The realms of politics, religion, and sex are domains of power, myth, and embarrassing intimacy -- worlds that are difficult to share with our (straight) fathers who have lived very different lives than their gay sons.

I remember when I reached the place with my parents when I could share more of my life with them then just the weather. It was a real breakthrough. I still giggle at one remarkable conversation when they were asking my partner and me about the mechanics of gay sex. It wasn't out of prurient interest on their part, they simply couldn't comprehend sex between two guys. I'll let you imagine how it all turned out, not at all like the telephone conversation in Jeffrey, thank goodness (that would have curled my hair).

My father and I had many engaging conversations about religion. He was a devout Christian who lived his faith, and I'm a skeptic who is incapable of belief. But somewhere in the middle of our different spiritual lives we found a sacred place to talk, and that conversation lasted over the last decade of his life.

And yes, Dad was a Republican, but he listened to me, and he told his U.S. senator that the military shouldn't discriminate against gay service members.

My dad had a profound influence on the really BIG parts of my life, and I still ended up in a different galaxy. I also know, because we talked with each other, that I had a profound influence on his life, too. We both grew because of the differences between us. I don't think he ever understood the "Gay Lifestyle," but he understood his son who is gay.