Because it’s pride week, I thought I’d interview someone close to my heart who has set an very important example and has been an amazing influence on many kids in his community. My brother Landon McCann.
Landon is 14 years old and has recently come out as bisexual to his friends, peers, and family. Landon decided to tell different groups of friends and peers, in steps to make it easier for him. He started with school, his friends were very supportive and embraced his differences with open arms. Then, he came out at cheer who took it the easiest due to the commonality in the cheer community. He then made a difficult decision and came out to our families church. This was hard for Landon because he wasn’t sure how they were going to take it and was scared to come out to this group. He was just constantly thinking, I don’t want to be judged and lose my friends. While being gay isn’t well accepted in most church communities, Landon has told me that all his friends treated him just the same as they always have. He said, “It was good to know I could go to all the places I normally go to, and still be treated as equal.” Out of all the people he’s told, he’s mostly happy his friends from church know.
The hardest part came when telling our mom and dad. He said that telling our sister Kiaya and myself, was easy because he knew we would be accepting and would love him no matter what. So, when I asked Landon why he was so afraid of telling mom and dad and he said, “I know they love and support me but I didn’t want them to stop and have that change because they found out I was a bisexual.” Landon was brave and told our mom and dad, and our parents were 100% accepting and wondered why he didn’t tell them sooner. It’s a hard step coming out to the people that are closest to you because you don’t want to lose them, but don’t let that stop you.
Landon says his best advice for anybody who is scared to come out to their friends and family is that people are a lot more accepting than you think they are. You can just get so caught up in your fear and imagining the worst of people. “Once you’re out there, it’s really relieving and you feel like you can be yourself and talk about it with people.” Anyone who has the courage to come out and be honest with the people closest to them are the strongest kinds of people. Be brave.