With Tuesday's repeal of “Don't Ask,
Don't Tell,” airman Randy Phillips came out to his dad and the
military on YouTube.
The 21-year-old Phillips, who is
stationed at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, last week recorded an
It Gets Better video to encourage troubled gay teens to hang in
there. However, he kept his identity a secret.
On Tuesday, he shed his AreYouSurprised
YouTube alias and showed his face as he called his father to tell him
he was gay.
“You promise you'll always love me?
Period?” a nervous Phillips asked this father, who answered in the
affirmative.
“Dad, I'm gay. I always have been.
I've known for … forever,” he said.
“I still love you son,” his father
quickly replied. “It doesn't change our relationship – and I
always will, no matter what, all right? You are my son, and I am
very proud of you.”
Phillips told ABC's Good Morning
America that “It feels great. It's nice not having to look
over your shoulder or worry about who you are talking to. I never
thought I'd be so comfortable with it. It's very supportive.
Everybody's been so great.” (The video is embedded in the right
panel of this page.)