Say hello to Mike Parrow.
The 34-year-old pro wrestler from Orlando just made a big reveal: He’s gay! All 6’4 and 300-pounds of him.
“I’ve always known I’m gay,” Parrow tells Gay Star News in an exclusive new interview. “That was never a question in my mind.”
He continues:
How about we take this to the next level?
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Growing up, I went to Catholic school my whole life. My mom’s a Sunday school teacher. I came from a small town in upstate New York. It didn’t have a flourishing gay community. The only exposure I saw of any gay culture was extremely effeminate and that was what was on TV. I’m not like Jack on Will and Grace, so I’m not gay.
Related: Pro wrestler Anthony Bowens reveals how he met his boyfriend. Spoiler alert: It’s complicated.
Parrow, who can deadlift 700 pounds, bench over 545 pounds and run 40-yards in 4.9 seconds, says he kept his sexuality hidden for years, instead focusing on “manly stuff” to keep himself distracted and others from becoming suspicious.
“I played football and did manly stuff. It wasn’t because I was gay. Those were the things I gravitate to – competitive stuff.”
He also tried dating women. At first this worked, but over time, he realized the relationships simply weren’t satisfying for him and weren’t fair for his partners.
In the beginning, when you’re younger, it’s easy – you’re young. But the older I got, the harder it got for me to have any kind of emotional relationship with a woman. I would find ways to end it. I’d be like, “Listen, I just don’t think you’re pretty.” And I was kind of mean to some women. It’s wrong. And I wish sometimes I could have that back.
It wasn’t until he was in his late 20s that he started exploring his sexuality. Unfortunately, his first experiences dating men didn’t go so well.
Gay men can be the meanest, cruelest people you’ve ever met in your life. I was “fat”, I was “ugly”, I’m a “closet case”, and at the time I was just looking to understand what’s going on. And so that put me further back in the closet than going forward. So I buried myself in wrestling and focused on my career. And I had some success, but that was always in the back of my mind.
Parrow says eventually he sunk into a deep depression. He felt like a liar and a fraud for keeping his true identity a secret. He began drinking heavily and having thoughts of suicide. He even tried conversion therapy.
“It was an absolute joke,” he recalls.
Related: This high school wrestler crushed homophobia and reached the state finals
It wasn’t until he began seeing an actual therapist and working on accepting himself that things got better. Then he met his fiancee, Morgan. And Morgan helped him find the courage to come out to his family and wrestling colleagues.
“Anyone I ever told thought I was kidding,” he says. “Their perception of gay men was totally different. So when I tell them, they get shocked, but every time I tell someone it gets easier rather than harder, and I always try to tell people that.”
Scroll down for some photos from Parrow’s Instagram page…
Lindoro Almaviva
1. Good for him. That is a big step and he should be proud.
2. Beefy bear is my favorite midnight snack… yum.
lauraspencer
Be careful of steroids boys! They kill.
Donston
Okay, cool, but you put his name in the headline like we’re supposed to recognize him or something. However, good for him.
Gay and gay-leaning men often make the mistake of merely trying to find guys to hook up with when they’re attempting to “understand” themselves, and that just sends them down the wrong path. Get some gay friends first. Do some research, read up on stuff. Accepting being a gay or gay-leaning man is not simply about gay sex or finding a boyfriend. That’s often not what leads to genuine self-comfort, self-understanding and a solid, content ego.
jack512
It’s hard to imagine him telling anyone they weren’t pretty.
Jaxton
Maybe he felt the sting of homophobic women when he was dating women? Women are notoriously anti-male-bisexual if they sense that their man might swing both ways as Mike Parrow obviously has.
It often becomes easier for such men to identify as gay if they cannot stand the homophobic negativity of women. It’s a form of separation.
By the way, I’m free, Mike.
Donston
He’s an uber butch-seeming guy that used to date women. So, I guess they’ll make him one of those rare gay-identifying men who are “worth while” to you.
Also, the same thing happened for me, and I was “proudly” bisexual at the time. Although I could get some enjoyment out of sex with women and enjoyed a woman’s company, the desire, passion and romantic feelings just weren’t substantial enough to maintain that type of connection, and I ended up being pretty mean towards the last couple of women I dated.
Donston
Also, the guy is engaged. So, he probably isn’t “looking”.
enlightenone
One word: MORGAN!!!
Larry Topping
Good observation, Jaxton. I’ve observed the same thing. It’s as if straight females have a perceived need for men to want them, and anything — ANYTHING — that diminishes that result is suspect and subject to ridicule (you call it homophobic, true; but it’s WAY bigger than mere homophobia). Remember: another woman, at least there’s room for her to compete; but another man? leaves a straight female disabled from competing, frustrated, resentful, angry, spiteful … well, you’ve seen it before, Jaxton.
andrewl
Good for him! Mike sounds like a lovely man. My God his statistics – 700lb deadlift is very impressive. He is a big lad.
rknapp
This man is 100% right about gay men being cruel and having such high standards of what a man should look like. This is especially true of the younger 18 to 30 year olds. Was when I was young and still true today maybe worse because of social media etc. SO when he says the following statement I agree with him:
Gay men can be the meanest, cruelest people you’ve ever met in your life. I was “fat”, I was “ugly”, I’m a “closet case”, and at the time I was just looking to understand what’s going on. And so that put me further back in the closet than going forward.
Danny595
To generalize about an entire population of people based upon a few comments you heard from specific individuals makes you sort of an idiot. Do better.
Zambos271
You are right. Not all, but quite a few gay men are just as he describes them.
SiamSam
Oh Danny, you’ve exactly done the same thing: generalized him (as a “sort of idiot”) based on a few comments he’s made. Pot. Kettle. Black.
queerT
Gay men or just men? He said himself he told women they weren’t pretty enough. Karma’s a bitch. He sounds like a bratty child. Do you think he was even considering men that weren’t up to his standards of beauty? It always kills me when the biggest crybabies about gay men being shallow or mean are THE MOST shallow and mean.
If you find yourself on the receiving end of hateful comments a lot, it’s because you’re fishing in the pond of hot guys instead of nice guys.
Danny595
Awesome! On first impression, he seems to be a good role model for G/B young men. We need more stories about cool guys like this and fewer stories about boys in princess outfits and transgenders.
Donston
It’s almost a hilarious bit of comedy that in the above post you criticize the generalization of gay men being bitchy and right below it you say something extremely bitchy.
SiamSam
Oh no, Danny, that would apparently be promoting “hyper-masculinity” or “fem-phobia” or some other SJW BS. We can have diversity BUT all gay men must be fem-tastic and trans fans.
jhon_siders
He has a good point about the young pretty guys only wanting the same they are missing out on good things ! as older men we have stability and most good employment ! hard to find that in the younger crowd . I don’t think he’s bad looking he’s damn hot WOOF !!!
o.codone
GaGa SCREAMING in the background was awful.
Franklyn
Michael. GOOD FOR YOU!!
You’re a proud man who is forging his own life and making things happen. I”m so very glad to see you and this story.
Be sure to take good care of yourself.
ShowMeGuy
Is this for real or just part of some scripted pro-wrestling story line.
charlietex
So a gay man tells a woman she is ugly and then complains about gay men calling him ugly and saying they’re mean. Hypocritical much?
Donston
It was kind of a silly thing to complain about. A couple dudes you hit on called you ugly and you ran back in the closet. That’s like a guy “turning gay” because a couple chicks were mean to him. I get that you’re very vulnerable when you’re closeted, and you’re looking for some approval and to be embraced. However, meeting a couple sh*tty guys shouldn’t so easily lead to internalized homophobia, becoming self-loathing and/or running back in the closet. Just like a percentage of gay men might be stereo-typically bitchy, another decent percentage of gay and gay-leaning men have incredibly easily disrupted and/or convoluted egos.
This is why it’s important to build up your own sense of self, solidify and maintain your own ego and not constantly look for others to do so for you.
Larry Topping
Well … yes, I think you’re right abut that, charlietex. And that happens a lot. From a careful distance, we say he’s been hypocritical — but, Mike didn’t have the advantage of the distance we have. In both scenarios, he was actually involved, and standing too close to the trees to see the forest, one can lose one’s objectivity … today (with some distance), I’ll bet Mike would agree w/ you, him having learned from being both the victim and the perpetrator.
queerT
EXACTLY!
dubril
Danny595, you’re not defending gays, are you?
Larry Topping
Danny595 is being sarcastic.
lucian
Gay????????
Yes you might be gay leaning man but at some point you’re bisexual( nothing wrong with it)
Just because you’re not attracted that much to a woman as you are towards a man that doesn’t mean that you’re gay(since when you were younger you enjoyed women,both romantically and sexually)
Donston
So, is orientation behavior, attraction, arousal, desire, pleasure, romance, relationships, comfort, current lifestyle? Everyone has their own opinion, which can make identity pretty complicated. There are many “proud to be bi” people who don’t like the idea of majority gay or majority straight people identifying with them, or gay-living or straight-living people identifying with them. Then there are people who feel as if any type of sexual contact with more than one gender during your lifetime equates to being a lifelong bi no matter the make-up of your orientation. Identity has become a sociological war more so than ever and that doesn’t really help in people understanding themselves, being honest about themselves or getting comfortable within themselves.
Although I’m not an “I don’t believe in labels” person I do appreciate that the “younger” generation (I say as someone not quite out of my 20’s) aren’t so damn caught up in it. And I removed myself from the gay/bi rat race and went with “homo-leaning queer” and “majority gay” and just regular “queer”. Most very gay-leaning people who have a stable ego and are content with their “lifestyles” are never gonna be comfortable identifying as bi, especially not with what the bi agenda has been selling in recent years.
lucian
You know ..outside there are plenty of young men who take these famous people like models and do you think this is a good model?!
Im in my 20 yet so
There are a lot of labels you can identify with bc labels help you categorize and i do know for sure that out there ..theres a lot of gay men left from their gay leaning men(basic bisexuals).because of a woman
I dont know.maybe identifying gay because is becoming like a trend and you can get known?!
peacefulruffneck
This story is such a welcome change from the Kevin Spacey or Ralph Shortey stories. Good for you Mike Parrow for working through your own struggles for self-acceptance and have the courage to be honest with loved ones and ultimately find someone you can share you life with.
Yes, there are gay men who are cruel. To them its best to respond with kindness because they are usually just projecting their own inner battles onto people they are cruel to. I hope your story inspires others who don’t feel like they “fit” in the gay world but the loveable truth is that none of us ever really fit anyway so who cares-most important thing is to love and wholly accept yourself first.
Archman
So he ends relationships he was already in with women by telling them that they’re ugly and SOMETIMES he wishes he could take that back? REALLY? Imagine the trail of self-conscious women who this guy mind-fu**ed and the potentially unhealthy relationships they entered into afterwards as a result. And then a handful of the gays call you ugly and it’s a Zoloft moment? Give me a break. This is an essay in entitlement and a complete lack of willingness to take responsibility for one’s actions. Hey, but st least he found his man and came out of the closer. High five!
Donston
I understand that being a closeted/not ready to self-accept gay/gay-leaning man can lead to you having a fragile and corroded ego. But I do get annoyed with dudes who try to entirely blame gay guys for them remaining in the closet, for their own hang-ups, self-loathing, internalized homophobia and/or poor decision making. He knew he was a very gay-leaning man and was never forthright with these women, instead ending relationships by metaphorically sh*tting on those women. I know that happens a lot. But no matter what you’re going through you have to take responsibility for your own actions and ego. And even though he’s older, out of the closet and engaged he’s still not completely willing to do so.
silveroracle
Hot looking guy.
I know the bushy beard is all the rage but I’d be tempted to trim a little just to show off that gorgeous chin.
Classy looking body as well. Woof!
Aromaeus
He probably got called out for being a masc4masc dudebro gay with internalized homophobia and didn’t like that so he went ‘deeper in the closet’. I bet he’s a gay republican too. Another bear guy whining about how they are discriminated against in the gay community while also showing their own prejudices. White bears are the worst with that crap.
Larry Topping
Parrow: “And I was kind of mean to some women. It’s wrong. And I wish sometimes I could have that back.” How beautifully honest is this quote? He tells the truth, admits it’s wrong and expresses regret. That’s more than most men would do. Good for him!
Larry Topping
Parrow: “Gay men can be the meanest, cruelest people you’ve ever met in your life.” True. Know why? B/c gay men have been disproportionately hurt and mistreated, since they were little boys, and consciously or subconsciously, their defensiveness has evolved to hurting others, FIRST, before others hurt us … like preemptive strikes.
GayEGO
We are all different and it is not easy to sort out what is important and what should be tossed out when it comes to our gender identity and gender attraction. I am middle of the road when it comes to masculinity, but I have no problem identifying as a male. I am attracted to masculine gay men, like my husband who I met in 1962 and married in 2004 in Massachusetts. This guy can find a mate, he just needs to be himself.
Larry Topping
Ditto!