My parents divorced when I was at the age of 12. One of the reasons my mom wanted to file for divorce was my dad dad being gay. My dad never admitted being gay. It took him about 25 more years to admit. His way of coming out was to introduce me to the man he was about to marry.
Not the fact him being gay, but the way he coped with the situation had a strong effect on me. Over the years I met different gay man and woman, whom were open about their sexual preferences. The big difference between them and my dad is that these people were born in a different zeitgeist. I suppose, at all times, coming out is an emotional process. Unfortunately we must continue to fight for more tolerance.
One of the guys I met, the baby brother of a friend of mine, was the opposite of my dad. I was intrigued by him. Besides him being open about his sexuality at a young age he was really eccentric. He always wanted to be the centre of attention. Nowadays the guy plays a significant roll, as a well known drag, in the Kings and Queens society. At this moment photographer Leon Hendrickx presents Kings & Queens, an intimate series of photographs exploring drag queens, by portraying the drag queens embracing the man behind their alter ego. https://www.foam.org/museum/programme/kings-queens
Sadly, despite the fact that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in the Netherlands have been some of the most progressive in the world, there are people who disagree and take law into their own hands.
That brings me to the point. Micha, please keep up the good work. The world can use more ambassadors like you. You’re doing a hell of a job.
my SITE of the story 