r/LesbianActually•
threyx

If your partner isn't out to their family, how would you take it? Is that a dealbreaker for you?

Relationships / Dating

I'm openly queer in my personal, professional, academic life. I am not averse to PDA, I don't avoid open acts of queerness--in sum, I am not in the closet in my day to day life. I don't, however, have any interest in coming out to my parents. My siblings know I'm gay (I'm not the only one of us), and I consider my siblings the part of my family that has access to my personal life. My parents and I always had a rocky relationship that galvanized me to move out at a young age. We're finally on decent terms again, and lately I've been wondering what that would mean for the women I date in my future.

My parents are far too stuck in their way to accept queerness, and I truly do not want them around any of my partners or any potential future children. They wouldn't be able to help themselves from trying to indoctrinate everyone into their heteronormative, radically pious agenda; therefore, they are not granted clearance to the upper levels of my life. I love my parents deeply, and I don't want them near my personal life. I've spent most of my life estranged from them, but as an immigrant, they are the bridge between me and my home country. My family home is where I get to speak my mother tongue, eat the food I grew up with, and get to remember a part of myself I don't always get to be. Regardless of my sexuality, I'm not too keen on marriage, so conversations about partners/dating don't come up anyway. But I imagine there will be a lot of queer women who don't want to deal with everything I've just mentioned, and I'd like to hear your thoughts.

The irony is that if I were into men, I still wouldn't date within the religion. So my parents would be upset with me every which way, and that is simply not a situation I'm interested in exposing myself to. I am very confrontational and not conflict-avoidant. I just can't see any potential benefit in imploding my home life, unless my partner feels strongly about it. I imagine some of the readers may, as well, and I'm keen to hear any anecdotes for those willing to share.

Posted May 24, 2026, 3:00 AM UTC

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