A Worthy Celebration

Most newspapers have a “Celebrations” section to highlight weddings and anniversaries and births and such, but in a recent Sunday edition of the Houston Chronicle the celebration was entirely different, but oh so lovely. This latest ad consisted of an announcement from unidentified parents saying their teenage son, “Drake,” had come out as gay: 

The parents of Drake are pleased to announce that their son has come out.

Drake is currently a senior in High School where he is the captain of the tennis team, ASB Vice President and NHS member.

He is a church deacon and enjoys film making and baking.

And, yes, he adores Barbra Streisand.

Of course, the Texas Observer picked up the story and did a little online investigating and found that "Drake" was Drake Wilson, a senior at Snohomish High School in Washington. And it was his mother, Joan Wilson, who placed the notice in the Celebrations section in response to the defeat of Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance [HERO] last fall:

“I couldn’t think of a better place than Houston, out of the entire country, where they needed to hear my message of pride. My announcement was my way of humanizing the issue. We are blessed to live in a state [Washington] 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.” — Joan Wilson

Joan says her son was created by God, and was born gay, and as soon as he came out to her, back in February 2014, she launched The Society of Lucky Mothers, a group that celebrates LGBT children.

As they should be until the time when LGBT children are no longer targeted and bullied and picked on and put down, but are celebrated like all children.

Even in Houston.

Texas Observer