By Ron Kemp

What a marvelous story of acceptance!!  At a time when we’re grasping and struggling for acceptance, at a time when we’re losing teen after teen after LGBT teen to suicide because of a lack thereof, we get this heartwarming story from Jessica Romani about her brother, Dylan.

Dylan, who is bisexual, went through all of the usual trials and tribulations that nearly all LGBT teens experience.  He knew at a very young age that he was “different”.  He struggled with acceptance of himself!  And, of course, he was bullied.  Or, according to Jessica, he dealt with “extreme bullying”.

In Dylan’s own words, “…I was so scared of what he would do or think or say because he’s a tough guy and i am his only son so I didn’t want to be a disappointment or anything.”  That sounds familiar.  What he found, instead, was the surprise of his life.  Fred Romani, the dad, in an amazing show of unconditional love and acceptance, got the Lady Gaga-inspired catch-phrase, “Born This Way” tattooed in Italian on his wrist.  Dylan already had it on his.  You have to watch the video to see the reaction to it.

When I read Jessica’s and Dylan’s description of their dad, the image comes to mind of the stereotypical testosterone-driven Italian male.  Sylvester Stallone.  Santino Corleone.  Fred Romani showed, however, that macho men also have a heart.  Especially when it comes to family.  Even moreso, I would say, when it comes to his only son!  It’s that show of unconditional love and acceptance, even if he doesn’t yet fully understand what his son is going through, that makes the most significant difference.  It’s that acceptance that, say, EricJames Borges was looking for but got the opposite, instead.  And, we know where that led.  The mental and emotional health of young Dylan Romani grew exponentially by Fred’s gesture of support.  That’s what makes this story so important.  And, quite touching.

I first viewed this video, and story, yesterday on Wipeout Homophobia on Facebook, the social network super page that is helping so many people, LGBT and straight alike, and saving lives.  It’s stories like this that makes us realize that love really is winning the war over hate.  For Fred, an old school Italian dad, to reach out to his young, struggling son with such a loving gesture, and then to see Dylan’s caught-off-guard, stunned reaction speaks volumes to the power of love and acceptance.

The hope, of course, is that this video will catch on and go viral so that people all over the world can see with their own eyes the sheer power of unconditional love and acceptance.  Dylan’s tears of joy say it all.  If more families showed their LGBT teens this type of support….  Well, you know.  Let’s hope that this video is a harbinger of things to come.

Watch the video here —–>  Video

Responses:

Kevin O’Neil from Wipeout Homophobia on Facebook says — “I  saw this video and just had to post it, with all of the negativity in the world it’s nice to see a positive reaction. Thousands of people watched within the first hour, and the positivity and emotion was overwhelming. This family is an inspiration to so many.”

Dylan’s sister Jessica Romani says — “My brother dealt with extreme bullying from a young boy until high school, he suffered depression and suicidal thoughts because he was always “different”. He knew he was bisexual ever since he can remember but didn’t think or know it was okay because he was so little and was getting made fun of all the time, so he shut himself off pretty much from everything and everyone. No one wanted to be his friend especially guys because he wasn’t into what a typical teen boy was into, he liked fashion and music and the dramatic arts. He was alone but at the end of the day always had his family, and me being his older sister I helped him through as much of his struggles as I could before knowing really the root of his feelings. He finally came out that he was bisexual his senior year of high school and to be honest none of us were shocked but so thrilled for him that he could finally be honest with the world and really start living his life! My dad is a very old school Italian father, and my brother knowing this was most nervous to tell him. He didn’t want to disappoint him, he didn’t want him to not love him as much because of what he was, being his only son, he was scared of shame. But my father and mother accepted him with their whole hearts, as much as they could, with a lot still to learn. This video shows the day my brother came home for spring break from college, a little over a year since he came out, now with his first boyfriend, and my dad surprised him with a matching tattoo. The story behind the tattoo is this: my brother for the courage to finally come out and accept who he was because of lady gaga. She inspires him every day. He finally got to meet her at a concert, had her write down her signature and the phrase “born this way”. He (Dylan Romani, my brother) got this tattooed on his wrist to remind him everyday that he was born this way and to love himself. It was a huge deal for him. So my dad (Fred Romani) decided for this birthday to get the same phrase in Italian tattooed on his own wrist for my brother. To show his unconditional love, how proud he is of his son, and how he accepts him no matter what. I captured this moment, and am so happy I did because we as a family hope it can inspire others to be as accepting and loving to people they know or to themselves.”

And from Dylan….  “So basically what happened was I was coming home from school for Spring Break. I go to college at Fitchburg State University. And my dad kept asking me when I was going to be home over text messaging and it kind of got to the point where I knew something was going on but didn’t think anything of it. So I got home, said hi to everyone and walked into the living room and everyone was standing in a circle and my sister Jess (to my dad) was like look you still haven’t shown Dylan your tattoo! And he lifts up his wrist and I was like what in the world is that?? And sister was like wait I need to take a video (look how that turned out!) and then what happened in the video happened. And after that I just kept hugging him and crying my eyes out and I really just can’t believe it. On November 8th, 2010 I came out to my family but my dad was the last of my family to come out to because I was so scared of what he would do or think or say because he’s a tough guy and i am his only son so I didn’t want to be a disappointment or anything. So one morning before school (the next day, November 9th) i broke out in tears and told him and he was very accepting and my dad told me that he had been planning on getting the tattoo since my 18th birthday, which would have been 9 days after I came out. So that hows me that ever since then he has had a great amount of love and acceptance and I just still cannot believe it. I now have the most amazing boyfriend and am so happy that my family is so accepting of him. Thank you for taking the time to read this!”

Read the original article post here —-> Ron Kemp