The parents of a high school senior
celebrated their son's coming out gay with an ad in the Houston
Chronicle.
“The parents of Drake are pleased to
announce that their son, has come out,” reads the ad. “Drake is
currently a senior in High School where he is a captain of the tennis
team, ASB Vice President, and NHS member. He is a church deacon and
enjoys film making and baking. And yes, he adores Barbra Streisand.”
The ad ran Sunday in the paper's
Celebrations section.
Joan Wilson, Drake's mother, told the
Texas
Observer that she placed the ad in response to the recent
repeal of Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). Voters in
November rejected HERO, which prohibited discrimination based on more
than a dozen characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender
identity.
“I couldn't think of a better place
than Houston, out of the entire country, where they needed to hear my
message of pride,” she said.
The Wilsons, though, don't live in
Texas, but in Washington state. And Drake came out in a YouTube
video when he was sixteen. Joan Wilson founded the Society of Lucky
Mothers after her son's coming out to help other mothers celebrate
their LGBT children.