My Fundamentalist Parents Won’t Accept My Marriage. Should I Cut Ties?
I grew up in Idaho in a tight-knit family following the firebrand tenets of fundamentalist Christianity. So when I came out to my parents as gay in college, it ended with tears, screams and a laying on of hands.
In my mid-20s, I came out again — this time in a letter sent from afar. I was determined to establish healthy boundaries with my parents, which led to years of silence between us.
I tried to break that silence on more than one occasion, only to be blunted by their homophobia. Hopeful that context would change their thinking, I attempted to introduce them to my boyfriend one Christmas.
My mother hung up on me. Again, years of silence followed. More recently, my parents made a substantial effort to connect with me and the man who, in 2018, became my husband.
