LOVE STORY

Dad’s Journey From Contemplating Suicide Over Gay Son To Learning Proper Use Of ‘Shade’

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Life throws all sorts of unexpected challenges at us, and there’s no one fool-proof way to successfully rise to them. It’s a revealing test of character to see how we move over the bumps in the road.

We’ve followed 20-something vlogger Riyadh for a while now, and have admired how he can tackle the silly to the serious and stay a positive role model to all the gay youth who stumble across his feed.

Related: Watch What Happens When This Dude Lets His Mom Read His Grindr Messages

In his most recent video, we get a look at his coming out story, including his father’s emotional revelation that he contemplated suicide after discovering that Riyadh is gay.

“I actually got up that night about 3 or 4 in the morning, and I was looking for tablets to commit suicide,” he says, adding, “It was so stupid.”

You can find that video, in which Riyadh, his mum and dad all talk about Riyadh’s coming out, below:

This is notable for a couple of reasons. One, it’s impressive that Riyadh’s dad is man enough to get on camera and get real about a serious and uncomfortable topic — well done, Dad. But more importantly, it’s another reminder that sometimes people need time and space to question what really matters and evolve.

Because in just a short amount of time, this father went from angry, distressed and confused to learning about ‘shade’ and other gay slang over fits of laughter with his son.

More of this please!

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