In December 2012, Michael turned 21 and decided to tell his mother he was gay. He met his first love and wanted to share it with his mother. Before he told her, he hid in his room for weeks and wouldn't come out. His mother was worried because she didn't know what was going on. Michael finally told her, but asked if his mother could keep it to herself because he was afraid his father would disown him if he didn't.

Michael's siblings are still in contact with him, but they have not been as supportive as he would have liked. They haven't communicated with him, but they won't talk about his "gay" life. They don't ask him about his love life and Michael can't reach out to them for advice or help because it's still very taboo for them.

During a New Year's Eve party, his dad got drunk and called Michael to sit with him. Without any reference to the LGBTQ+ issue, his father told him that he was still his son and that they would always look after him and didn't care what he was like. Michael was ashamed that his father found out, but at the same time he was glad that he hadn't disowned him and actually supported him.

Time passed and eventually the reason Michael's parents divorced was because he was gay. They fought constantly, his father was angry with his mother because his toxic masculinity couldn't handle the fact that his son was gay. His father left the family for another woman and to this day pretends he doesn't know who his first family was.

Michael's mother was the only one who supported him on his journey, but she told him, "I can't give you advice because it's different when you're two men." Maybe if being gay wasn't such a big taboo, she could have talked to him about it normally.

Michael had a long relationship with a Romany boy for almost 4 years, but unfortunately it ended. He would like to say that just because they are both Roma, it doesn't mean they have to be together. Of course they can have some understanding for each other, but it is not a rule that they need to be together and stay together. Sometimes what happens is that people don't know what to take from a toxic relationship because they feel that because they come from the same background it can't get any better.

Coming out in a conservative Roma family and community means two things. The first is that coming out is a never-ending process. Michael says that dealing with this meant he was an actor his whole childhood so he could fit in. The second thing is that if you're part of the LGBTQ+ community, sometimes you have to choose between being yourself or being with your family. At least that was Michael's case.

The man behind this story wishes to remain anonymous, so he came up with the name Michael. Now 31 years old, he originally comes from a traditional Roma family from Hungary, but now lives in Western Europe.