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From the moment you were born, I always knew you were the unique cousin of mine that would one day grow up to be a beautiful, intelligent and strong person.
You see, the frequent times I would come over and stay over at your family’s place is where I feel you’re one of the very few people that I know I can vibe with — regardless of our 9-year gap.
I see something amazing in you that makes me feel I want to protect you from all the evil in the world.
Because you deserve every happiness in the world that it has to offer to you.
However, I can’t always be there to protect you as I need to let you go, for you need to grow from your own experiences.
I do hope that from every lesson you encounter, you can still see the positive side.
You see, I am so proud of you for coming out to me as a lesbian many years back.
I couldn’t even think of a way to express how grateful I am that you’ve chosen and trusted me to come out to.
You were so young back then and have already accepted, embraced that fact of you without any remorse.
Hearing all this drama that you have with your crushes only makes me feel like goddayummm, why isn’t this a reality TV show?
Jokes aside, you have no idea how brave you are at a young age to admit that you’re happily gay to me.
Fast forward to yesterday, we had a heart to heart talk where I felt we bonded even more.
You told me that you identify yourself as male instead of female.
I can’t fathom how proud I am of you for taking that first step in acknowledging it, although it’s a tough world out there, especially when it comes to the topic of LGBTQ in Malaysia.
A few minutes into talking about how you feel right in your bones that you are male and how it lights you up, a worried face overpowered your entire reaction when you talked about how you’re going to break this news to your parents and your brother.
Especially your brother.
I know how supportive your brother is in your realisation as a lesbian but you were even more stressed up about the fact that he may or may not accept you as a trans person.
Tears started to stream down your cheeks as you spoke about the need for your brother to accept you for who you are.
I couldn’t help but hug you in hopes it’ll relieve you of your problems completely. But that’s not how issues are resolved. If only it was that easy.
I’m so glad you have tons of amazing and supportive friends in your journey to your sexuality. It warms my heart to know that you are loved and wanted by people around you.
Dear cousin, no matter what others say about your gender, just know that I’ll always be there for you.
You can come stay with me if your parents decide to kick you out of the house. I’ll be the most cool person in your life.
I’ll be your wing woman, and most importantly you’ll be even more of a family to me than ever.
With all honesty, I pray that you’ll never give up on people.
Yes, there may be lots of haters out there but I do hope with you being the amazing person that you are, you can be a beacon of hope and strength to people who are finding it hard to come out in life.
Just know I’ll be right by your side defending you and supporting your goals now and in the future.
I’m going to conclude by saying my last words to you before leaving, “Don’t worry, remember you are kind, you are smart, and you are strong.”
Sincerely,
Your proud and protective cousin.
For more stories like this, read: How I Grew To Accept My Gay Cousin After I Began An Interracial Relationship and Coming out of the Closet: A Transgender Man’s Experience.
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