Colorado resident Kenneth Felts has celebrated pride month by coming out as gay at the ripe old age of 90.
It seems the COVID-19 self-isolation allowed him to take stock as to why he hadn’t opened up before and it was an innocent chat with his daughter that sealed the deal.
While chatting with his daughter a few weeks ago, Felts let slip that he has always regretted leaving Phillip (Felts’ one true love).
His daughter Rebecca, Felts’ only child from a marriage that ended in divorce, tried her best to comfort her heartbroken father. Rebecca herself had come out to her father as a lesbian 20 years earlier.
According to Felts, he realized his homosexuality at the age of 12, and the first romance happened in the 1950s … But this relationship with a man named Philip, whom Kenneth calls his only true love, did not end there.
After coming out to his daughter, Felts decided it was time to let everyone in his life know that he was gay.
He sent emails and posted a message on Facebook, explaining that he’d always felt he had two personalities living inside him: Ken, a straight man, and Larry, a gay man. After years of suppressing Larry, it was time to set him free.
Speaking with the Dever Post, Felts said the response was overwhelming. Almost instantly, positive emails and Facebook comments started pouring in. Of course, Felts had been anxious about revealing his life-long secret, but he pressed “send” anyway.
“I’ve been in the closet all my life — deep in the closet, behind rows and rows of clothing. I’m way back there,” he said to the Denver Post.
“Opening that door at the front, I had great trepidation as to what people would say. I was very concerned because I needed people and I couldn’t stand the thought of losing them just because I decided to finally be who I really was.”
Ultimately, Felts broke up with Philip, they lost each other. Felts got married, had a baby, divorced.
“Coming out in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s was horrendous,” Felts said.
“That was part of the reason I didn’t ever consider coming out (before). There was no gay community, there really weren’t gay organizations or anything.
“People who came out on their own, without support. And I guess I didn’t have the courage to face society at that time, so I just went ahead and buried it.”
These days, Felts puts on his sweatshirt with LGBT symbols and boldly attends meetings of age homosexuals.
He also raises money for the LGBT community and loves spending time with Rebecca, her wife Tracy and two grandchildren.
“Do not underestimate your friends and family,” says Kenneth Felts.
“You will be surprised at their reaction if you decide on to come out. Enjoy what you have while you have it, because everything happens only once.”
Last Updated on Jun 22, 2020
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