Today has been so emotional. I’ve had so many messages from people of of all ages and from all backgrounds since Moray Council raised the Rainbow Flag in solidarity. As the only gay councillor in Moray’s history – I felt extremely proud.
I grew up in Moray and I often felt like I was the only person in the world who was going through what I was going through.
It really wasn’t easy growing up gay in a tiny rural corner of Scotland. Yes, my family loved me. But I was always scared that they wouldn’t love the REAL me. And outside our four walls was the threat of nastiness and bullying.
When the other boys and girls tell you “My Dad says you’re a poof” you really don’t know what it means. And when you find out what it means you’re terrified they realise you’re different.
The teenage years are even harder. You aren’t just running the gauntlet of puberty, you’re learning to play a role, learning to pretend to be someone you are not.
The moment of liberation, finally coming out, is life-changing. I broke my heart at the end of my mother’s bed at the age of 15 and sobbed in her arms for hours. And she held me and loved me.
And then I stood crying a few months later on the Spey Bridge and told my best friend. And life, slowly, got better. In fact, it became great.
Where once was a terrified boy a confident man began to emerge. Now, I’m not perfect, we’re all broken in some way, but I am who I am because I’m allowed to be myself.
Tomorrow, boys and girls, teenagers struggling to come to terms with who they are, will read in the local newspaper that their community raised the Rainbow Flag for the first time in history. They will know how proud we are of them. Isn’t that something?
Thank you Moray. Let’s keep fighting the hatred together.
#LoveWins
