What Pride Means to Me – Lynne Munro

As soon as the Hamilton Forth Team were discussing Pride month 2022, I immediately volunteered my story!  I am a very proud Mother of a 24-year-old son called Samuel who is kind, funny, intelligent, and who also happens to be gay.  Having supported him through his journey of acceptance, I understand how difficult it can be for young people coming out.

I am extremely lucky to have a close, open, and honest relationship with my son who has always shared his worries and insecurities with me, however I know how difficult it was for him to talk about it especially in his teenage years.   Fortunately, Samuel could confide in me and talk through his concerns as this wasn’t something that was openly accepted in his School or community within a small town.

Samuel is currently studying his master’s in creative writing. With his experience of growing up in Scotland he has noticed that there is a gap in the market for queer literature in modern Scotland.  This has inspired him to write a novel using ‘Scots language’ for a real representation of young Scots men,  where in the 2000s things are a lot more accepted but not perfect!   He covers issues of drug use, mental health, fear, vulnerability, and the many issues some young men who aren’t fully comfortable with themselves are going through.  He writes from a perspective of “a book he wishes was available when he was 18”.

Why am I sharing this you may ask?

As his mother, I am immensely proud of his talent and courage and his drive to make a difference in the gay community.  Like many young people, he has struggled with feeling accepted and often supressed the amazing human that he is because of it!  He is a kind, loving inspirational young man who shows courage and strength and strives to connect with modern society, to tell a story of the issues young gay people can go through!  I wanted to use my platform to share his story and perhaps inspire someone else to use their voice to support others, and Pride offered me the ideal chance to do so.

I commend my son for having a voice and using his talent to reach out to all young people who have experienced the pressures of being gay and perhaps maybe even change the mindset of others to accept that its ok to be different and its definitely ok to be gay.

Happy Pride month Everyone.   Let’s love and be loved!

Hamilton Forth is committed to encouraging diversity in the workplace.  We are a member of the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (enei).  This Pride month we are donating to LGBT Youth Scotland.

For information and advice on coming out or supporting someone in coming out, visit Stonewall.org.uk