Parents’ Love and Acceptance Inspire Empowering Business
Julie Peri
By Julie Peri–
Growing up, I had some of the most accepting and loving parents. They let me dress however I pleased, wear my hair short, and follow my dreams and passions. When I wanted to be a soldier in our local
Nutcracker play, a role typically only for boys, they supported me. But in 2013 when I was about to come out to my parents, I was still shaking and nervous to tell them that I liked women.
I was dating a girl on my swim team and was deep in the closet. Being closeted was one of the most excruciating times of my life, and little did I know that my parents had already guessed we were dating. I remember looking at them and saying, “So, remember my teammate in college? … We were actually dating.” They looked back at me and said, “We already know and we still accept you.” At that moment, I realized just how much my parents had my back.