A mother has taken out a newspaper ad to announce her teenaged son came out as gay. Not only that, but he absolutely looooves Barbra Streisand.
The ad was published in the “Celebrations” section of last Sunday’s Houston Chronicle.
“The parents of Drake are pleased to announce that their son has come out,” the ad reads. Then it lists several of the high school senior’s many achievements, including that he’s a church deacon, serves as student body vice president at his school, enjoys filmmaking, baking, “and yes, he adores Barbra Streisand.”
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Though the family lives in Washington state, Drake’s mother, Joan, told the Observer that she placed the ad in Houston’s newspaper in response to the repeal of the city’s Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), which voters struck down last November.
The law would have prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity plus more than a dozen other characteristics had antigay activists not successfully managed to squash it.
“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. “My announcement was my way of humanizing the issue.”
She continued: “We are blessed to live in a state which has passed anti-discrimination laws. As a mother, I have much trepidation in thinking my son might one day live in a state such as Texas.”
Drake came out in a humorous video on YouTube when he was 16. In it, he said: “As much as the ladies will hate to hear this, I’m gay. And while I’m not proud of this because I don’t like to promote society’s unrealistic and unachievable standards of beauty, I did love to play Barbies with my older sister, Gabrielle.”
He then added he might be straight if “Beyoncé were single.”
The ad in last weekend’s Houston Chronicle touched Houston resident Darryl Morrison.
“I can’t say I’ve ever seen one of these before,” Morrison wrote in an email to the Observer. “With all the terrible LGBT news out of Houston lately, it was a sliver of hope.”
Check out Drake’s official coming out video below…
Colin McCoy
Ew.
Ben Stimpson
This is the type of news you should be promoting Queerty, this is absolutely lovely 🙂
Kangol
I love how supportive his mother is.
Ruth Winkler
good job MOM!! Unconditional love for your child. So many others need to learn this.
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
Cute and awesome.
Alan down in Florida
Great MOM and Drake is totes adorbs. Does Queerty check off Drake on their list of who won’t come out in 2016 because of this?
Kangol
@Alan down in Florida: LOL! +1000
alvareznelson
Mom, I want to tell you a secret…
Rick Caffey
Great family…
Dakotahgeo
I would love to have a son or two like this guy! I would be sooo proud of him/them!
Stached1
That’s great his mom did this but coming out isn’t really something that warrants a newspaper ad or article.
joeyty
I’d be embarrassed if my mother did that, but…….if it works for them…great. It’s probably his mother’s way of telling him , absolutely, she’s fine with it.
martinbakman
The sunflower picture is too much. Love it! Did Mom have a hand in that?
Noel P McGrath
Love it â¤ï¸â¤ï¸â¤ï¸â¤ï¸â¤ï¸â¤ï¸â¤ï¸
Derrick McCoy
This is so extra…
Captain Obvious
Usually not a fan of YouTube queens but this was cute.
o.codone
i don’t think anybody heard him when he said he is still a christian. So cute as this boy is, he’s a masochist, a self hating gay, a close minded little christian bigot and we gay people hate his guts for being such so stupid as to associate with such haters who hide under the mantle of christian religiosity. We cannot accept him because he is a believer as much as we would love to jump on his backside and get the job done. No, he’s out. NO effing christians belong in the gay community. Hate these hypocrites, just hate ’em. Closed minded sh its. Get lost christian mama’s boy.
Dakotahgeo
@o.codone: Why do you always have to show up in public and here AFTER you’ve ODef???! Have you no shame… or brains? Ahhh… moot question. My bad!
Dakotahgeo
@Dakotahgeo: *ODed*
Sluggo2007
Reminds me of that old joke: How did Barbra Streisand find out her son, Jason was gay? She was straightening up his bedroom and noticed that he had all her albums.
Bryguyf69
Wow, that guy has the most perfect set of teeth I’ve seen in a non-model/actor.
Bryguyf69
@Stached1 wrote: “coming out isn’t really something that warrants a newspaper ad or article.”
@joeyty wrote: “I’d be embarrassed if my mother did that, but…….if it works for them…great. It’s probably his mother’s way of telling him , absolutely, she’s fine with it.”
=======
Both of you seem to have missed the point of the ad/announcement. Drake had already come out to the family years ago and yes, they were fine with it. His Youtube video was made when he was 16 so we can assume that he was out to his family even before that. He is now 18, and a senior. The mother placed that announcement in Houston (where she doesn’t even live) to protest the possible repeal of protection for gays in that city. So it wasn’t an announcement, per se, but a humorous in-your-face act of political protest. And based on Drake’s witty video, I’m guessing that he helped write the announcement so I’m sure he wasn’t embarrassed by it.
Bryguyf69
What a perfect poster family for Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays (PFLAG). Not only is the announcement witty, but Drake has movie star looks (love those perfect teeth!) and impressive academic credentials.
As an aside, I’m impressed that the Houston Chronicle published the announcement. I wonder if they did so willingly or reluctantly.
StephK
@o.codone:STFU! You are the closed minded one.”We cannot accept him because he is a believer as much as we would love to jump on his backside and get the job done. No, he’s out. NO effing christians belong in the gay community.” Speak for yourself!
Suburban
Ew?…I agree it’s a bit much but at least she didn’t disown him and he didn’t hurt himself or worst. It was a happy ending.