This extraordinary mother moved countries to give her gay son a better life
The Human Rights Campaign have shared the extraordinary story of a mother who moved her whole family to a different country to give her gay son equality.
The teen, known only as Javier, emigrated to the US as a six year old at the wish of his mother.
When he turned 16 he shared with his mother that he’s gay – only to discover the extraordinary truth behind their move.
The family had lived in Guatemala, which has had a troubled record with LGBT rights.
A recent survey found that 85% of Guatemalans oppose legal equality for LGBT citizens.
After sharing his sexuality, Javier’s mother told him the truth: she’d moved the family for fear of prejudice towards her son.
“I guess I might’ve just been a very queer kid”, he said.
The family have now lived in the US more than a decade.
Despite having a university degree and being well educated, Javier’s mother sacrificed her career to work as a housekeeper in the US, where he is safer.
“Right after I came out to my mother, the first thing she told me was that it was the reason we had immigrated to the United States,” he told the campaign.
“I guess I might’ve just been a very queer kid, and my mother realised it wasn’t something that was going to go away.
“There just came a point where my mom decided we can’t stay in this country.
“It’s not safe for my family, it’s not safe for me.
“And so, she made the sacrifice to come to the US.”
The film comes shortly before Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States.
Javier, coming from an undocumented family, is worried of the action Trump may takes in office.
there have been many warnings about the ways President Trump could roll back LGBT equality.
