Ed Smart — father of Elizabeth Smart — speaks publicly about g out as gay, llg the ‘send miracle’ his life

Contents:

• A GAY MIRACLE
• THE FIRST THG MY MOM DID WHEN SHE LEARNED I WAS GAY... AND THE 'MIRACLE' THAT OCCURRED AFTER
• J AFFIRMED A GAY UPLE.
• THGS YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN WATCHG TLC’S “MY HBAND’S NOT GAY,” JOG NORTH STAR, OR CONSIRG A MIXED-ORIENTATN MARRIAGE
• ED SMART — FATHER OF ELIZABETH SMART — SPEAKS PUBLICLY ABOUT G OUT AS GAY, LLG THE ‘SEND MIRACLE’ HIS LIFE
• ELIZABETH SMART'S FATHER SAYS G OUT AS GAY WAS HIS 2ND 'MIRACLE'

A GAY MIRACLE

Miracle, who turned 25 after the trials, is already g her new platform to advote for LGBTQ+ rights and is believed to be the first Olympic women's wrtler to be openly gay.

THE FIRST THG MY MOM DID WHEN SHE LEARNED I WAS GAY... AND THE 'MIRACLE' THAT OCCURRED AFTER

EngardBack 1992, before Ellen me out and long before the Supreme Court allowed same-sex marriage by one vote, my iend Jeff who was wrtlg wh beg gay mted suici at age had played tennis together earlier that a few weeks later, was the news that the closeted actor who played the all-Amerin dad on the classic TV show "The Brady Bunch" I grew up watchg re-ns had died of was a dark time. I wasn't sure how one survived beg gay. I watched horror as Pat Buchanan railed agast "homosexual rights" prime time durg the GOP nventn: "We stand wh Print Bh agast the amoral ia that gay and lbian upl should have the same standg law as married men and women.

J AFFIRMED A GAY UPLE.

A few years later, Print Clton would sign the "Defense of Marriage Act" that nied me the hope of beg able to marry the person I was a dark time for a young gay man his teens and early 20s.

And I’m glad I was able to meet openly gay printial ndidate Pete Buttigieg and his hband Chasten Glezman. In his troductn to the llective’s send volume, “Sojourner: Black Gay Voic the Age of AIDS, ” Garrett noted that the llective’s works were of cril importance bee they were creatg culture.

THGS YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN WATCHG TLC’S “MY HBAND’S NOT GAY,” JOG NORTH STAR, OR CONSIRG A MIXED-ORIENTATN MARRIAGE

” As chapters shift om past Broome to prent Tuan, the book tablish a metanarrative about the rout some Black boys mt travel to reach self-realizatn, to reach book exam them that are also explored ntemporary memoirs by Black gay wrers, like Casey Gerald’s “There Will Be No Miracl Here” and Saeed Jon’s “How We Fight for Our Liv, ” them of pe, journeyg and self-disvery. Broome is wrg, however, om the perspective of a Black gay man who me up the generatn before Jon and Gerald.

Growg up as a gay kid the south was not easy.

ED SMART — FATHER OF ELIZABETH SMART — SPEAKS PUBLICLY ABOUT G OUT AS GAY, LLG THE ‘SEND MIRACLE’ HIS LIFE

For my fay, however, they still live ground zero of tolerance for the LGBT muny and have the unique prsure of havg a well known gay relative. My mom read the Bible four tim a row and bought every book wrten about Christiany and the subject of homosexualy.

ELIZABETH SMART'S FATHER SAYS G OUT AS GAY WAS HIS 2ND 'MIRACLE'

Please know that I am NOT here to bate the issue of homosexualy. We are a Christian fay wh ep roots the church and the teachgs of the years ago, we found out that Lance is gay. My feelgs were more of sadns and jt sheer disappotment you believe that beg gay is a choice, then the rt of what I say will not matter.

I do not know why, but even as a stnch Christian, I personally never believed that beg gay was a choice. I never knew a lot of gay people, but the on I did meet I felt passn for bee I uld feel their pa of beg rejected and my heart always went out to them. Even though I never did believe Lance chose to be gay, I did not accept as quickly as my hband did.

I ntued to love my son, stand bi him, and fend him, but for several years I ntued to pray relentlsly for a, Lance is still gay. The miracle is that I learned to have unndnal love and passn for my son and others the gay muny.