<p>I hope very much that as you get older, you will be able to live comfortably and happily, accepting yourself and not trying to hide or disguise anything about yourself. As others have been saying, there are many communities where this is possible. My children have had openly gay and lesbian teachers since nursery school, openly gay and lesbian friends since middle school or early high school when students started coming out, and classmates with parents who are gay and lesbian. There are gay men and lesbians in leadership roles in our religious community, and in my husband’s and my professional communities. And the sexual orientation of these many gay and lesbian individuals in our lives is not the first, or the second, or the third thing that comes to mind when we think of them. </p>
<p>I am not suggesting that gay men and lesbians do not encounter some prejudice and hardship, but in many communities, we are working on that and getting past it. I am so sorry that you don’t feel that your family can accept you as you are right now; but please know that there are many, many communities where you can be yourself, be fully who you are, find a life partner, in some places marry, raise a family, have a career in a field that truly interests you, and have a really good and satisfying life just as you are.</p>