Right before I went on my mission, I came out to my parents. In fact it was the morning of my missionary farewell. I was beating around the bush so much that my mom asked if I was worrying about masturbating. (Hey, that was kind of funny). I can't remember how I told them, but I got it out there.
They didn't seem terribly surprise, although they certainly didn't say "we always suspected". Actually, though, they were great. No anger. No how could you do this to us. Amazing when you consider that both of them came from families with long traditions in the church - handcarts across the plains and all that.
My dad actually talked about a, well "relationship" I guess, that he had with a boy we will call Whitey when he was a boy. He said it always made him wonder. Then he said nothing more about it. So I really don't know what the relationship was and he has not, and will never, speak of it again.
My mom was the funny one. Her one comment: "Well if we weren't LDS we'd just take you to a hooker and show you how good it is." And I do think she was serious. Years later, my oldest brother, who is perfectly fine with me being gay, said I should just give "pussy" a try because I had no idea what I was missing.
My mom has passed away. Dad remarried, and is absent in many ways the details of which I won't relate here. I miss them both and will always be grateful that they were there for me. My life still turned out to be a disaster, but that experience could have been so much worse.
Must be California. You know how it corrupts Mormon folk.
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