I was 14. I had made a post here on Wattpad about loving my at-the-time girlfriend and not giving a shit about who said anything. Someone from the church my parents belong to saw it and told me that if I didn't tell my parents, she would. I knew my parents wouldn't accept me, not at all. So, I made a plan to run away. A girl from school offered me her woods to live in. I had all the plans ready and it was the night I was set to leave. I didn't have a phone at the time, so I used Instant Messenger to contact the girl who was helping me. That backfired when I hit the wrong name in my AOL contacts list. I sent the message instead to a girl named Kayla. She told me she wouldn't tell anyone, but after I finished explaining to her, she called her neighbor, who knew my grandparents, and in turn, my parents. She called at 11:00pm and told my parents all she knew. My mom came up and confronted me about it and of course I denied it. But it was too late, and my mom slept on the couch for a while after everything happened.
The morning after my parents got the call, they confronted me before I went to school. They asked me if it was true, and not knowing how to respond, I told them the best truth I could. I told them that I was bisexual (it was easier then explaining pansexuality to them) and that I didn't want to be part of the church. My father pointed to the door and said if you want to live that way, there is the door. He told me that if I wanted to live in his house, I needed to abide by his rules. Those rules included things such as:
I was not aloud to associate with anyone who wasn't part of my parents church, as I was a bad influence on them.
I was not aloud to associate with anyone inside the church, because they had all been told I was a disgrace, disgusting, ungodly and I needed to be shunned so I would see the error in my "ways" and come back to the church.
I could not be on the computer unsupervised, ever.
I could not have any sort of social media of any kind (I didn't listen to this one very well).
I had to attend every meeting and church event just as before, but this time, I would have to sit in the second row and endure the fiery hot eyes of the" Elders of The Congregation" and everyone else as they judged me every time I walked in the building.
I was not aloud to participate in any school activity of any kind.
Every time the Elders came to talk to me, I was expected to sit at the kitchen table and I was not aloud to leave until they were through bullying me and (yes, even to the point where I remember crying) trying to tell me that I was disgusting. (One time, as my parents sat there and nodded their heads in agreement, the elders told me that I was disgusting and needed to be cleansed of my wrongdoings. They got very angry at me when I would not apologize for being LGBTQ+).
That's not all, just what I remember the most. I had a list of rules that my parents wrote for me. And I was expected to follow each and every one of them. Most of them were as useless and shitty as the rules above.
A while back, I told my mom (through text message, because she lives an hour away from me and I have no car) that I was transgender. I told her my prefered name, and that I love her a lot. I told her that her and dad did not fail at parenting me like they thought the first time I came out to them (she cried over that a lot the first time).
I haven't heard from any of my 4 sisters (or their respective husbands) or my parents, or anyone who my parents talk to. I'm going to guess that I never will again. All because they are Jehovah's Witnesses. They are taught to love everyone, except anyone who has a different view then you.
