"I want to bring peace into his life. I want him to be happy. I want him to be loved."

The adult child of an army veteran recently shared their father’s heart-wrenching coming-out story.

OhHeyNayNay911 asked for advice after revealing their dad is trapped in a depression over his sexual identity.

“He is 61 years old, and he finally came out to me yesterday,” OhHeyNayNay911 writes. “He told me that I was the first person that he has ever told. I never gave much thought to my dad’s sexuality or cared about it in any way. But when he told me that he is bisexual and has been suppressing it all of his life, my heart just completely broke for him.”

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The writer explains that their dad came out to them because he’s embroiled in a lawsuit—someone online was threatening to out him and he needed help erasing his digital footprints.

“He doesn’t want anyone to know, and I by no means will be telling anyone, including his other three children,” the OP explains. “I am so close to my father. He is a wonderful man. I cannot imagine the pain he has went through in his life suppressing this.”

Their father is a retired army veteran who served for 22 years, at a time when being out would have been the end of his military career. “He [also] has PTSD that he is dealing with, and I want to bring peace into his life. I want him to be happy. I want him to be loved.”

Unfortunately, they live in a homophobic community, one that includes their father’s family. (Their dad’s sister is a “bible-thumping shove scripture down your throat kind of person.”) The poster confess they don’t exactly know how to reassure him, because he could very well be rejected by his family and shamed by the community if his orientation were made public.

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“I love him,” they write, “and I honestly don’t see why this ’little’ fact about him has to change anything or cause him so much pain.”

They add, “I don’t care what orientation my father is. I just want him to be happy, above all else, and to be at peace. I want him to live his life in peace, doing what he loves, and who he loves, with no fear of anything. I am afraid that I am going to lose him over this.”

Reaction to the post was supportive. One commenter suggested just reassuring their dad they they’re there for him.

“He needs someone on his side! And it needs to be expressively mentioned. He may have come out to you in particular because he thought you’d be the most understanding, but he needs to hear it out loud in unambiguous terms.”

That’s an important lesson for all of us when confronted with someone coming out, whether it’s a parent, a child or a friend.