Raised JW, gay, still close with family — anyone else?

I’m curious how many people here were raised Jehovah’s Witnesses, are gay, still have a good relationship with their family, and never had to leave home because of it.
I was raised JW by my grandparents for about 19 years. I’m incredibly fortunate that, despite being gay, they’ve continued to love and accept me. Their son is also gay. They did shun him when they were younger and newer to the religion, but eventually rebuilt an okay relationship with him.

I know that’s not everyone’s experience. Some people lost their homes, families, friendships and entire support networks because they were LGBTQ+, and I absolutely recognise how privileged I’ve been in comparison.

But I wonder if anyone else has that strange feeling of missing parts of the JW world while knowing why you left.

For me, it’s the community, family traditions, structure, spirituality and sense of belonging. Sometimes I genuinely wish I could experience that life with my family again.

Which leads me to a hypothetical…

What if same-sex relationships were eventually accepted within JW life?

Not a separate set of rules. The same framework:

Date → courtship → no sex before marriage → engagement → marriage → sex within marriage → lifelong faithfulness → serving Jehovah together.

Basically, two men or two women being allowed to enter the same marriage covenant heterosexual couples already can.

If that ever happened, would you consider going back?

Would being able to have a same-sex spouse and remain a fully accepted Witness change how you feel about the organisation?

Would it feel like something you’d lost had finally been restored — or would too much have happened for you to ever return?

And for those who have experienced family rejection or shunning: would this kind of change have made a difference for you?

I’m also genuinely curious whether anyone thinks real theological change like this could ever be pushed from within. Not tomorrow, obviously 😂, but through enough LGBTQ+ Witnesses, former Witnesses and supportive families asking the questions and challenging the interpretation over time.

For me, I think the dream isn’t necessarily “I want to be a JW again.”

It’s more:

“I wish the place I came from could have made room for someone like me.”

And maybe that’s why the idea of it changing feels so emotional.

Would it make you feel more complete? Or would it simply be too little, too late?