Phone Calls, The Followers, A Film, A Farwell and My Father

So Sunday was my old buddy Scott's farewell. He is one of the only friends that I lost in the process of coming out and unfortunately he was the friend that probably meant the most. I've talked a lot about him (here, here and here).
Last week I realized that his farewell must be coming up soon. I called some mutual friends of ours, most of whom replied, "I love you Austin, but I'm not sure that you going would be such a good idea." So finally, I grew some balls, and texted Scott directly and asked when his farewell was. I half expected to be ignored, so the text that came five minutes later caught me off guard.
"The 28th at 1pm. Be there."
I was shocked but happy. I didn't set any expectations for what kind of a situation the 28th at 1pm would bring. I was just taking the text for what it was: the end of a silent grudge match.

Saturday

My mom called (she doesn't know how to work iTunes). The chitchat was trival until she asked if I was bringing Todd to Scott's farewell. I told her that I was planning on it.

Mom's Reasons To Leave Todd At Home

• It is Scott's special day so his bigotry should be tolerated (That's the gist of her idea in my words)


• Don't rub it in people's faces (Is everyone really just that jealous of what me and Todd have? :)


• This is not the time or place to promote your political ideology (My only intention was to go to church with my significant other. When did that become a political statement? Why can straight couples do normal things, like go to church, and not be accused of making a statement?)

I told her I would probably still bring Todd because I felt her reasons weren't good enough. I hung up and within five minutes my dad called. He asked me if I was bringing Todd to Scott's farewell. I told him I was planning on it.

Dad's Reasons To Leave Todd At Home

• It is Scott's special day so his bigotry should be tolerated
  
• Don't rub it in people's faces
• This is not the time or place to promote your political ideology

Look familiar? I was so frustrated with the whole situation that I just hung up on Dad. I know really mature, right? I just had to get away from all the bull shit.

Later that night Todd and I needed to go to Bookmans. We got to the intersection where Bookmans is, and me saw a rally. There were big banners that said things like "Heaven or HELL? It's your choice," and "God did NOT make Adam & STEVE." There were about fifty people or so chanting religious propaganda. We had our windows down and he could hear that some of them had megaphones and were shouting in Spanish. We just laughed to ourselves about this. How do people like that even remotely think that is what Christ would do? Do they really believe that saying things like that is going to make any homosexual want to change the way he lives his life? In fact, I would bet that by attaching the name of Jesus Christ to such harsh and hurtful messages, they are only damaging homosexuals' view of what kind of man our Savior really is. Yet they claim to be His followers. More bull shit.

Later we were in the car, blasting Lady Gaga, and singing at the top of our lungs. A truck pulled up along side us. There were three guys in the cab that looked like they belonged in the religious rally we'd seen earlier. One of them stuck his head out of the passenger window and mimicked our dance moves. We just smiled and sang louder... until I had an idea.
I grabbed Todd's face and kissed him.
The guy looked like he had seen someone be shot.
It was awesome.
The light turned green and we drove off.

Sunday

So I finally did it. I watched Prayers For Bobby. SUCH a good movie! I'll just say that it addressed every point possible. It's simply amazing.
I hope and pray that someday my parents will see it with open and softened hearts. I want to send it to them, but I know that they would not watch it in the right spirit. It has to come from someone that they trust... which is hard since my mother refuses to talk to anyone about the fact that I'm gay.

I went to Scott's farewell. Alone. Todd was a good sport and we decided it would be best if he stayed home. The farewell was good. Scott came up to me after sacrament meeting and thanked me for coming. He had a big smile and tried to make small talk. The way that he was acting; I almost thought his next question was going to be, "Why haven't we hung out in so long? I've missed you!" I was just so lost in his false facade. Whatever.

I pulled my dad aside after the service and apologized. I told him how sorry I was for the way I had reacted. The more I had thought about it, the more respect I had for him. All he was doing was trying to please my mother. He defends her and backs her up 100%. I can't be mad at him for trying to be a good husband. I respect him so much and hope to be a fraction as good as he is.