To celebrate #nationalcomingoutday, I’d like to take a moment to share how much I love this woman, @brandycarstens. Going on a decade and a half of friendship, she is truly deserved of my everlasting, ’til death do you part love. But really this post isn’t so much about my love of Brandy but about my love for my parents and the way they have set the bar higher for radical acceptance in the face of love. This summer, I called them up to ask how they would react if I was gay. "Truly, tell me, there’s no wrong answer, I want to know all of your feelings," I said. “Well, Courtney,” my Dad said, “We’ve already gone over this actually! In college, we thought that you might be coming out because you kept posting photos of you and Brandy referring to her as your “life wife” and well, we thought, so it is! Our daughter is dating a woman!" “We both agreed that while it would’ve been a different path than what we had expected for you, that you had been throwing our expectations to the wind in many regards and that it always turned out for the best, for you,” my Mom continued. "Most importantly, we acknowledged that there is only one truth, and that is that WE LOVE YOU, YOU, ALL OF YOU, whoever YOU ARE and CHOOSE TO BE. And we were very excited to meet this adorable little Brandy." Today is a celebration of the acceptance and courage of personal truths, of self-love and sex, and most importantly of love in all its forms. Thank you Mom and Dad for always drawing a line under the L-word for me and for teaching me that we are love and we are reflections of love, and showing me how to let love guide me through this life. You are impressive examples for parents everywhere. 🌈💜💪🏻🌈💜💪🏻 via Instagram http://ift.tt/2erqcU5