I’m 22 years old, I was born in Newham Hospital and I’ve lived in East London most of my life. I grew up as the only child in a single parent family and relations had always been a little difficult. I did pretty well at school but always felt out of step with the crowd, maybe because I was a bit of a tomboy. I get a place at University but had difficulty settling in and left this April after 2 years. Moving back in with Mum was hard. She was constantly questioning my sexuality. My family are very religious and I’d always been frightened of coming out. This Halloween things came to a head and I finally told her I was gay. She became really angry and upset and kicked me out. I tried to stay with other members of my family but she warned them not to have anything to do with me. I became very low and took an overdose. Thankfully, I immediately panicked and called an ambulance. They took me to the Royal London where I was looked after for 2 weeks. They were wonderful. When I was ready for discharge they called Shelter from the Storm and luckily they had a bed for me. It was a relief to finally be honest about who I am, but I’m still not speaking to my family. Now all I want is a decent job, I’ll do anything. I want to save up and get a pace of my own and get my life on track. Who knows, one day I may even go back to Uni and finish my studies.
