Published 12:56 IST, May 22nd 2020
Indian-American dad raising a toast at his gay son’s wedding leaves people teary-eyed
A video of Indian-American man raising a toast at his gay son’s wedding is doing rounds on the internet in which he reminisces how his son came out as gay.
A video of Indian-American man delivering an emotional speech at his gay son’s wedding is doing rounds on the internet in which he reminisces how his son came out as homosexual in high school. Dr Vijay Mehta, a resident of central Texas, raised a toast to his son, Parag Mehta, and talked about his journey as a parent in accepting Parag’s decision to marry Vaibhav Jain.
During his speech, Dr Mehta speaks about the need to be braver and more compassionate while seeking truth and spreading love. He said that he was one of the luckiest fathers around in 1997 when his son was valedictorian, spelling bee champion, and doing a great job as a Romeo in plays.
“On 27 March, at 4.25pm on that Friday night, Parag had a very small speech - ‘Dad and Mom, I am gay. I have known it since I was 10 years old’,” he added.
Dr Mehta added Parag revealed to him that he had known it since he was 10 years old but earlier he was confused. Parag told him that he thought he will hide fact until his father’s death so he won’t be embarrassed by his son’s sexuality. He also confided that he attempted suicide during his high school days but didn’t succeed.
Admits his homophobia
Dr Mehta said that their life went from “the best of the time” to “the worst of the time”. In his speech, Dr Mehta acknowledges that he was a homophobic person and decided to find the best “treatment centre” in the country and find the cure for it. After the revelation, he went to a medical library and found out that there’s nothing to be cured because it is not a defect or disease.
“I asked a simple question, ‘Do I love my son any less at 4.31 than I loved him at 4.25?’. And a long pause and the answer was, ‘No, I still love him the same’,” he said.
Netizens loved the toast raised by a father for his gay son and many of them shared their own of story. “It's really rare for an Indian dad to be so accepting. Well done to him ❤️,” commented a user. “My son is gay...... there I have said it. Feels a lot better to acknowledge it openly in front of the whole world. I'm lucky to have a son who is intelligent, funny and has a whole lot of friends who accept him for what he is,” commented another user.
(Image Credit: YouTube / Vaibhav Jain)
Updated 12:56 IST, May 22nd 2020