Growing up Gay
“I was probably in my late teens and finishing up high school and I was with a really nice girl for a couple of years and I felt something wasn’t quite right,” Conway tells BuzzFeed News. “When I started to realise that I was sexually attracted to guys it really did freak me out and I went through a phase where it was going to be my big dark secret forever”. Conway would go on to become a successful rugby league player, but was plagued with worry about the potential backlash he would receive if he came out as gay. Today Conway is a not only a model but also a youth worker advocating for open and honest discussion around mental health issues within the Indigenous community. He says that encouraging young people to be proud of their identity and sexuality is imperative. “Working in the youth sector I see a lot of kids, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous trying to come to terms with it and I always say to them, “there is always someone to help you if you reach out and there have been people who have walked this path before you, you’re not alone.”
DATE OF PUBLISHING
11-DEC-2015
SOURCE LINK
http://nigra.org.uk/heres-what-its-like-to-grow-up-gay-and-indigenous-in-australia/