Iâm a gay guy in my late 40s with a straight sister in her early 50s. Sheâs been married for a bit over two decades to guy who always registered as a âpossibleâ on my average-to-good gaydar. But I put âBIL,â aka my brother-in-law, in the âimprobableâ bucket because he actively wooed my sister, was clearly in love with her, and fathered four boys with her, all in their late teens now. Iâm sure you already saw this plot development coming: It turns out BIL has been far more âprobableâ than I thought. He has a boyfriend, but is still very much closeted and denies he is gay. My sister has apparently known about this arrangement for four years, but has kept it a secret for the kidsâ sake. But she recently filed for divorce and told our parents and me whatâs been going on. Their kids have been informed...
Iâm a gay guy in my late 40s with a straight sister in her early 50s. Sheâs been married for a bit over two decades to guy who always registered as a âpossibleâ on my average-to-good gaydar. But I put âBIL,â aka my brother-in-law, in the âimprobableâ bucket because he actively wooed my sister, was clearly in love with her, and fathered four boys with her, all in their late teens now. Iâm sure you already saw this plot development coming: It turns out BIL has been far more âprobableâ than I thought. He has a boyfriend, but is still very much closeted and denies he is gay. My sister has apparently known about this arrangement for four years, but has kept it a secret for the kidsâ sake. But she recently filed for divorce and told our parents and me whatâs been going on. Their kids have been informed about the divorce, but not about their fatherâs boyfriend.
BIL needs to gay-man-up and admit the truth to himself and the rest of his family and start the healing process. Thatâs obvious. Unfortunately, thereâs no way I can talk him into it (weâre not close), and my sister is left holding this terrible secret while her bewildered kids watch their parentsâ marriage crumble with no clue why. I think the kids deserve the truth, and that neither my sister nor the kids can start to heal until that happens. If BIL wonât do the right thing, my sister is going to have to tell them the truth. What can I do to help her with this? Sheâs awfully fragile right now and I donât want to pressure her and I canât tell the kids without causing a big stink. But dammit, Dan, someone needs to start speaking some truth in that house.
Dishonest Gay Brother-In-Law
Secret second familiesâand a secret boyfriend of four years countsâarenât secrets that keep. So your nephews are gonna find out about dadâs boyfriend sooner or later, DGBIL, and sooner is definitely better. Because in the absence of the actual reason why their parents are splitting upâin the absence of the truthâtheyâre likely to come up with alternate explanations that are far worse. And when they inevitably discover the real reason, your nephewsâ anger at having been lied to or left in the dark will reopen the wounds.
Backing way the hell up: seeing as BIL actively wooed and âwas clearly in love withâ your sister, and seeing as he successfully scrambled his DNA together with hers four times and remained married to her for two decades, DGBIL, I donât think BIL is a closeted gay man. My moneyâs on closeted bisexual man.
I shall now say something that will delight my bisexual readers: Iâm sure youâd like to live in a world where everyone is out, DGBIL, or, even better, a world where no one ever had to be in. But in the world we live in now, bisexuals are far less likely to be out than gays and lesbians, DGBIL, and the belief that a guy is either gay or straight keeps many bisexual guys closeted. Because if a bisexual guy whoâs married to a woman knows heâs going to be seen as gay if he tells the truthâif no one will ever believe he loved his wife or wanted all those kidsâheâs unlikely to ever come out. So you canât fault BIL for not being out, DGBIL, when itâs attitudes like yours that keep bi guys closeted in the first place.
I shall now say something that will piss off my bisexual readers: a family-minded bi guy can have almost everything he wantsâspouse, house, kidsâwithout ever having to come out so long as that bi guy winds up with an opposite-sex partner. Coming out is a difficult conversation and itâs one many bi people choose to avoid. And who can blame them? I wasnât thrilled by the idea of telling my mom I put dicks in my mouth, but it was a conversation I couldnât avoid. Faced with the choice between telling my mother the truth and possibly being rejected by her and thereby losing her or cutting her out of my life in order to keep my secret and definitely losing her, I chose to tell her the truth. If Iâd been, say, your average hetero-romantic bisexual man instead of a huge homoâif I enjoyed sex with men and women but only fell in love with womenâ, I couldâve avoided coming out to her and very well might have.
Back to your nephews, DGBIL: they should be told the truth but you shouldnât be the one to tell them. Their parents should. Sit down with your sister and make the argument I did above. : Yes, your kids are upset about the divorce and it will add to their upset to learn their father is in a relationship with a man. But theyâre going to be angry about being lied to when they inevitably find out. And iIf sheâs keeping this secret solely at BILâs request, well, he canât ask that of her if doing so will damage her relationship with her kids. I donât think she should immediately out BIL, but she can and should let him know that she will have to tell the children if he doesnât. You should have a conversation with BIL. Open it by telling him that life is long, marriages are complicated, and that you know he loved your sister. But to stick the dismount hereâto end his marriage without destroying his relationship with his kidsâhe canât hide from them. If he doesnât want to tell his boys about his boyfriend because he fears he might lose them, DGBIL, then heâll have to cut his kids out of his lifeâand that means losing them for sure. And then butt the fuck out.
Iâm a 24-year-old lesbian and Iâve been dating my girlfriend for three years now. Sheâs incredible but she isnât completely out of the closet yet. Iâve been out since 2010. Sheâs only come out to a couple of her really close friends. I understand that everyone is different and it takes some people longer than others, but I canât help the fact that it hurts my feelings. I donât express this to her because I donât want to be the reason she does something sheâs not ready to. But at the same time, itâs killing me and she doesnât even know it. We are compatible in every way possible: sexually, emotionally, and spiritually. But I canât help but feel sheâs ashamed of me. I know that sounds selfish but I want someone who will scream my name from the rooftop. I bring her around all my friends, family, and co-workers. Sheâs fully a part of my life and I feel like Iâm never going to be fully a part of hers. What do I do? Set a time limit? She makes me so fucking happy, but Iâm starting to resent her for this and I donât want to feel that way. Your thoughts, please!
Being A Secret Hurts Every Day
Two thoughts...
1. Your girlfriend is keeping a secret from her family and friends, BASHED, and she has to hide you to protect that secret. Youâre keeping a secret from your girlfriend: being hidden, being treated like her dirtiest secret, is making you miserable. Tell her how you feel about being hiddenâbecause she needs to know being hidden is making you miserable.
 2. âDonât date closet casesâ is one of my rules for out folks, BASHED, but there are exceptions to every rule. If an out person meets someone on their way out or someone who, for good reasons, canât be come out this minute (theyâre dependent on bigoted parents) or possibly ever (they live in a part of the world where itâs too dangerous to be out), an out person can date a closeted person. But dating someone who can be out and isnât and has no plans to come out? Theyâre not dating you, theyâre dragging you back into the closet. Just say no.Â
