Professional wrestler comes out as gay and says he tried ‘conversion’ therapy
A professional wrestler has come out as gay and said he tried to ācureā his homosexuality.
Mike Parrow, a 34-year-old wrestler from Orlando, Florida came out as gay in a new interview.
He tells Gay Star News: āIāve always known Iām gayā¦ That was never a question in my mind.ā
The wrestler, who is 6ā4ā³ and 300 pounds, says he went to Catholic school and came from a small New York town.
āThe only exposure I saw of any gay culture was extremely effeminate and that was what was on TV. Iām not like Jack on Will and Grace, so Iām not gay,ā he adds.
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He says he kept his sexuality a secret for years, instead trying to focus on āmanly stuffā.
āI played football and did manly stuff. It wasnāt because I was gay. Those were the things I gravitate to ā competitive stuff.ā
After trying to date women, he says he was ākind of mean to some womenā and he wishes he could take it back.
The 34-year-old goes on to say he had bad experiences dating men in his late 20s.
He says he was called āfatā and āuglyā and that he was accused of being a ācloset caseā.
āGay men can be the meanest, cruellest people youāve ever met in your lifeā, he goes on to say.
Eventually, Parrow says he became depressed, had suicidal thoughts and even tried āconversionā therapy.
āIt was an absolute joke,ā he says of the widely condemned practice.
Eventually, Parrow says he started seeing a therapist and got engaged to his fiance Morgan.
He says Morgan helped him come out to his wrestling colleagues and family.
āAnyone I ever told thought I was kidding,ā he adds.
āTheir perception of gay men was totally different. So when I tell them, they get shocked, but every time I tell someone it gets easier rather than harder, and I always try to tell people that.ā