I was 16 and with my first serious girlfriend. We were in love in that way only possible with first loves. It was sweet and innocent and passionate; one of the most exciting times of my life. She and I hung out together with our families a lot which was finally making my relationship with my brother closer. I had always idolized him and wanted nothing more than to be his friend, something we had never had before because having your sister who is 3 years younger hanging around was lame.

One day, my brother came to me to talk. He was obviously upset about something so we sat down and I held his hand while he cried and talked to me. He told me he was in love with my girlfriend and my head started spinning. The rest of that day is sort of a blur but somehow he successfully broke me and my girlfriend up and they started dating. After that, my mom told me that my brother had gone to her for advice about the situation. He had outted me to our mom. She gave me the "I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed" speech and made me start seeing a reformed gay counselor and go to Christian family counseling. Things went from a dream to a nightmare in the blink of an eye. It got so bad at home that my oldest brother offer to let me go live with him many states away.

Because of the dramatic reaction my parents had to me being gay, it took years for our relationship to be healthy again. We're good now that I'm in my 30's but it wasn't easy. I forgave my brother much faster but things were never really the same after that. I still have trouble trusting anyone and, in spite of the more accepting environment we live in today, I still fear coming out to people.