Nathan Mico has always known that he was gay. When he was 16, he decided he had to come out to his family and nothing was going to stop him.
But for his parents - Les and Sue Mico - the admission was devastating. They didn’t quite know what to think or how to react.
“That moment when Nathan came out to us that night, I was heartbroken and frightened for him. I was really frightened of what was going to happen to him,” Sue tells SBS.
It wasn’t until their second son came out that the Micos’ acknowledged that they needed help. They reached out to PFLAG, an organisation for the parents, families and friends of LGBTIQA+ people.
The PFLAG community helped the Micos’ meet other families with gay children and understand that none of their preconceptions about homosexuality were applicable.
“When I got there, it was just like a whole new world embraced me, I felt good that I wasn’t the only one,” says Sue.
The Micos family now marches together in the Mardi Gras parade, an experience Nathan describes as “surreal”.
“It’s different watching it from the outside. But on the inside with your mum and dad, by the end of it, you can’t explain how much love you have felt and its bursting out,” says Nathan.
This video originally appeared in the 2015 Mardi Gras broadcast. For more great stories, tune into the 2017 Mardi Gras, airing Sunday at 8:30pm, March 5th on SBS. Check out a teaser below:
