Opposites Attract

PFLAG Cananda Part 2

Fun fact: I almost published this chapter without noticing that I had made a typo in the title and it said "PGLAF"😂

Narrator's POV:

"You must be Leila," Jonathan said. He was honestly surprised. In all his years of leading these meetings, this had never happened before.

"Yea, that's me," Leila responded. She was surprised too.

But nobody was as surprised as Emily, who was staring at Leila like she'd grown two heads. Michelle wasn't exactly fond of the situation, though what partner would be?

"Would you like to go next? Would everyone be okay with that?" Jonathan asked. Everyone who was supposed to share before Leila nodded, and Leila bit her lip.

"I guess I will," She answered. "Even though this is unnecessary now, hi, I'm Leila. The reason I'm here is different than probably all of you. I'm not part of the LGBT community, and I'm not here to support anyone, either." Michelle sighed of relief; Leila wasn't going to steal Emily away from her.

"My story's a little more complicated. See, I was raised being told that homosexuality was bad. I didn't always completely understand why, but I believed my parents anyway. I never really encountered it as a kid, even though it was obviously still there." She glanced at Emily.

"It wasn't until about ninth grade. I started questioning my parents more and more; I just didn't understand why it was so terrible! Then, when I was was walking home from a friend's house one night, someone pulled a gun on me. It was terrifying, but luckily, there was a policeman right across the street, interviewing a family. He walked out of the house no more than a few seconds later and saved me. Still, I couldn't figure out why he - the guy who pulled the gun on me - had done it. My parents shielded me from a lot of the world's problems, so I didn't really know about drugs, drinking, mental disorders, or any possible causes like that. I just kept thinking how I was doing nothing wrong, so there was no reason for him to do it!" She had everyone's attention at this point; they all wanted to know where this story went.

"Then, I was asked to speak at his trial. My family declined, once again wanting to shield me. I was curious about what had happened though, so I tuned in to the news report about the trial. At one point near the beginning, they mentioned something about his boyfriend. I turned the TV off then, thinking I had my answer. He had done it because he was homosexual. They really were bad people! I continued to grow up, and I saw the world around me changing. There were more openly homosexual people, and more awareness was being brought to the subject. I gave up on a lot of potential friends, just because of their sexuality! I kind of hated having to do that, but I hadn't seen any proof that they weren't all the same as that guy, not that I really looked for any. It wasn't until I was diagnosed with cancer one year ago. It was one of the worst things ever, but my doctor made it a little bit better. She was funny, easy to talk to, and a good listener. An all around good person." This was a long story, but nobody seemed to care. The room remained silent as Leila continued.

"One night, she mentioned something about a girlfriend. At first, I was shocked. By instinct, I was about to freak out, to request a new doctor, but she had to leave immediately after for an emergency. This gave me time to realize something; I had thought she was a good person before I knew her sexuality, so why would she be different now? I thought back to the guy who had pulled the gun on me. Now that I was older, I knew of all the different reasons someone might do that. I pulled out my phone, Googling the case. Turns out he had been a drug addict! I realized I was wrong, and that my parents were wrong. I didn't want to dislike the doctor just because she had a girlfriend! I felt so guilty, and I wanted to right all my wrongs. The cancer became bad the next day though, and I was in the hospital for months. Finally, one week ago, it got better. I'm not cancer-free or anything, but it's not giving me a hard time right now. I was released from the hospital, and I thought of it as a chance to do the right thing. Like the universe was giving me a chance to fix my mistakes. So I'm here now to learn, and just support. I want the chance to get to know this community before it's too late." She finished.