A gay man who recently came out to his grandfather has shared the wholesome response he received - and it has left Twitter users in tears.
Make no mistake, homophobia - even in the Western world - is still very much a thing. So, when a young man named Travis came out to his grandpa, people were overwhelmed by the loving response he received.
Earlier this week, Travis, under the handle @chipotletwink, took to Twitter to share the loving text message his grandpa sent him following his coming out.
Alongside two screenshots, the young man wrote: "Finally came out to my grandpa and his response is so [teary-eyed emojis]."
His grandpa's lengthy text begins: "Well Travis, I guess you're saying you're 'coming out'. First of all, our suspicions of this began many years ago, It's not something easily hidden but it certainly wasn't for us to come forth and ask you.
"Your mom is right, we don't care, we love you, want you to be happy and wish you success, and will support you with whatever you choose to do with your life. I just don't want you to sell yourself short."
The grandpa then goes on to say that he is sorry Travis was "afraid" to approach him and talk openly about his sexuality.
"I thought I told you several times in the past that you can talk freely with me about anything that concerns you. Even in 2021 though, this can be a tough path for people to follow. Being heterosexual is much easier as you don't face possible criticism and prejudice."
He then adds that Travis' boyfriend, Enrique, seems like a very nice man, and he'd welcome him over with open arms anytime.
"Love you," he signs off the sweet message.
Since the tweet was posted just days ago, it has managed to rack up 8.5K retweets and over 200K likes.
Travis even posted a photo of him and his boyfriend in a follow-up tweet.
Needless to say, the original message made a lot of people very emotional.
One person said: "I'm going to cry so much right now. wish my parents could tell me the same things, but no. they're radical homophobic."
Another said: "Now I’m crying, my experience was the exact opposite."
A third joked: "Who is cutting onions in here?"
The grandpa also received plenty of praise for being so accepting of his grandson:
And some people shared their own coming out stories:
Overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support his post received, Travis later wrote in a separate tweet: "the replies under this are so sweet. im glad everyone is being nice to each other [sic]".
