Parents Take Out Newspaper Ad to Celebrate Son's Coming Out

High school senior Drake Wilson should have no trouble getting a date, because in addition to his good looks, his parents took out an ad in the Houston Chronicle's Celebrations section this past Sunday, to let the world know he is gay and that they are proud, according to the Texas Observer.

"And yes," reads the ad, "he adores Barbra Streisand."

Joan Wilson, Drake's mother, told the Observer on Tuesday that she placed the ad in response to the defeat of Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance in November. HERO would have prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and 13 other characteristics, but was rejected by voters.

"I couldn't think of a better place than Houston, out of the entire country, where they needed to hear my message of pride," Joan Wilson said, adding that she believes her son was born gay and created by God. "My announcement was my way of humanizing the issue."

The Wilsons live in Washington state. They say when he was 16, Drake posted a cheerful coming out video on YouTube, so mom didn't have to worry about spilling the beans.

"We are blessed to live in a state which has passed anti-discrimination laws," Joan Wilson said. "As a mother, I have much trepidation in thinking my son might one day live in a state such as Texas."

After her son came out, Joan Wilson founded the Society of Lucky Mothers, a group that celebrates LGBT children. In an essay on the group's website she wrote:

"By the age of three, Drake still wasn't very interested in playing with cars or destroying things like most boys his age. He was very interested in art, his aunt's newest furnishings, and the color pink. He could recognize damask patterns and he wanted to be a flower when he grew up. At four, when his sister talked of being a tomboy, Drake asked what that meant and then extrapolated that that must mean he was a tom-girl."

The Wilsons, who are Christians, always made sure to express their support for gay rights, and figured that in time, if their son was gay, he would tell them. Eventually, he did.

Drake told his mom that he hadn't planned on coming out until he was at college, but after watching HBO's adaptation of The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer's iconic play about the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, he decided to step out of the closet earlier.

In his YouTube coming out video, Drake said he is still a Christian and thanked all those who came before him for allowing him to be able to come out while still in high school. He also gave a special thanks to his family.

"I would just like to say a big thank you to my whole family for being an example of how all families should be," he said in the video.

Watch Drake Wilson tell the world he's gay.