Christopher Lee Nutter
I want to share with the reader my feelings after finding that my youngest son is gay. I had written earlier in this blog a note about the number of days since I have talked to him. I think the blog title is 5,172 or something close to that.
I was googling a subject 2 weeks ago and it had something close to Chris Nutter's name. As is my habit, I am on now page 2 or 3 in my search and find a book by Christopher Lee Nutter. It is his chronicalling his life since 1994 when he came out to the world in an article in Details magazine. I have never heard of Details magazine so I would not have knows about his 'coming out' unless somebody told me.
His brother Jason when I would talk to him about Chris, all he would say is "you would not know Chris today in NYC!" I had never visited Chris nor Jason when they were in NYC so I am the innocent father living in the Bible belt in Birmingham, Alabama.
My absence from writting lately has been my inability to write or even talk about this. He says in his book that when he came out that his 'friends and family were all happy for him and embraced him and his gay life'. His family in Alabama is Gardners, Nutters, Northcutts and there are about 100 of us that know and grew up with Chris but we were not told of this. He says in his book, his mother Betty and brother Jason, so as far as I know they may have known from the beginning but not his dad.
I am on page 114 in Coming Out. He blames me for a lot of bad things that happen in his life in Birmingham as a child and young adult, and that is OK. Usually people that have identity or happiness problems, they like to blame someone else for that unhappiness. I guess I was the only one left.
I bought his book from Amazon.com and read it in one day. I am rereading the book now that Karen has read it. I will not share my opinion of his book, but I am proud that he has accomplished the feat of getting published and now hopefully on a great writing career. I don't understand the gay life but it does not change the fact that I still love him.
Chris, I am sorry you did not share this with your dad early in your life. You did not have to run away to 'come out'. Your book is filled with spiritual quotes from the Bible of God and Jesus Christ, so maybe your mom and I got you off to a good start. As you said in your book, 'this was not a path you chose, but one He gave you to live'. Keep Him in your life and accept his comfort and grace. It is yours for the asking.
If you have read this far, google "Christopher Lee Nutter" and read some excerpts from his book. His dad, Jeff Nutter, on page 114.
