"Coming out is probably the most awkward, fumbling thing you could ever imagine," wrote HuffPost UK video writer Eve Hartley, but it helps when you have the full support of your mum.
Joan Wilson took an advertisement in the Sunday edition of the Houston Chronicle, celebrating her son Drake for coming out.
Credit: Darryl Morrison
However, there's actually more to the story than meets the eye. Drake actually came out to his parents in 2014 in a brilliant YouTube video.
And the teenager, who is student body vice president at Snohomish High School in Washington state, doesn't even live in Houston.
But, after Houston residents voted to repeal the state's equal rights ordinance which will impact the LGBT community, as it currently prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Joan Wilson had to make a statement.
“We are blessed to live in a state which has passed anti-discrimination laws,” Wilson said to the Texas Observer. “As a mother, I have much trepidation in thinking my son might one day live in a state such as Texas.”
“My announcement was my way of humanizing the issue," she added.
Joan is as inspirational as it gets. After Drake came out in February nearly two years ago, she launched The Society of Lucky Mothers, a group that celebrates LGBT children, to help other parents.
The manifesto on the site reads: "A society of proud mothers committed to talking about the elephant in the room by first celebrating that it has come out of the closet! And, by sharing their stories, these mothers hope to create more understanding, acceptance, and love in the world."
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Although she knew her son was gay before he came out, she wanted to let him do it in his own time.
In a blog on her site, she writes: "I grew up in church and heard the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah like everyone else. At some point in my early twenties it became very apparent to me that being gay was biological and not a choice.
"How could being gay be sinful when God is the one that created them? It also seems to me a most basic human right to love who you want to." Hear, hear, Joan.
The picture of the ad was taken by Darryl Morrison, who works as creative operations manager for Getty Images in Houston.
He said: “With all the terrible LGBT news out of Houston lately, it was a sliver of hope.”
H/T: Distractify