Riyadh Khalaf has bravely opened up about the reaction his dad had to the fact that he was gay.
The Youtube and radio presenter revealed that his father took the news very hard, and the strain it had on him.
Riyadh’s father is Muslim, and he said that the culture he was raised in made him not understand being gay.
“My dad is from Baghdad in Iraq and my mom is from Dublin, they met in London.
“He was brought up Muslim and in that Islamic culture and in that world as many will know it’s not okay to be gay, most of the time, It’s full of shame and fear, it’s seen as a sickness and it’s just not good.” he explained.
Riyadh explains that he told his mother first, who was very accepting but that she feared telling her husband.
“We kept it from him for nine months, where I grew further and further apart from him for fear of what I know what was to come.
Speaking on Cutting Edge, the social media star explained: “My dad found it incredibly difficult.”
He revealed that his father even tried to take his own life upon learning the news.
“His reaction wasn’t good, he completely broke down. He was on the floor on his knees saying ‘why you? why this way? why does it have to be gay?’
“I looked at him thinking ‘you? It’s me that has to live with this and go through a world that doesn’t accept me for who I am.”
“He spoke about this, we found out afterwards that he attempted suicide because of the way I was.
“It was unbelievably difficult to hear that of course, any kid would feel that way, but even more so because I was the catalyst to make him think like that.
Thankfully the story had a very positive outcome, and the star revealed that his father has since become a huge supporter of his some and the LGBT+ community.
“In the year after he tried that, I can’t tell you the turn around that he has had. He is the most loving, most embracing, pro-gay, pride-marching, drag queen-befriending dad that I could ever ask for.
“My dad is my idol, my mentor, my world, and without him, I would be half the man I am today.He changed, not by accident, but because he wanted to and he put love above shame
“He put me above everyone else’s opinion, I just love him so much,” he said tearing up.
The star also shared heartwarming words of encouragement for young LGBT+ people.
