Pete

Obviously I had been like a consultant and, um, you know, I was, I was a military. Um, so I, uh, I knew that like, I should not be in a position of that kind of responsibility. Um, Unless I've like resolved this in some way. And if I'm not ready to come out to the world, I got to come out to somebody because that's the best way I can come out to myself, right?

If I've like just told even one person, then it's kind of real and I'm no longer kind of like in that fog mentally. Um, and so I like took a deep breath and just a good buddy of mine from, from over the years, one of my best friends over beers. And I'm just like, look, I gotta tell you something.

If I've like just told even one person, then it's kind of real and I'm no longer kind of like in that fog mentally. Um, and so I like took a deep breath and just a good buddy of mine from, from over the years, one of my best friends over beers. And I'm just like, look, I gotta tell you something.

If I've like just told even one person, then it's kind of real and I'm no longer kind of like in that fog mentally. Um, and so I like took a deep breath and just a good buddy of mine from, from over the years, one of my best friends over beers. And I'm just like, look, I gotta tell you something.

And one of the first things he, uh, one of the first things he said, he kind of patted me on the shoulder and said, you know, you do it. I'm not into you like that.

And one of the first things he, uh, one of the first things he said, he kind of patted me on the shoulder and said, you know, you do it. I'm not into you like that.

And one of the first things he, uh, one of the first things he said, he kind of patted me on the shoulder and said, you know, you do it. I'm not into you like that.

But he felt like you didn't exactly make it easy on yourself. And what he meant was... Oh, that's so kind. My, you know, my career, to the extent I had a career, there were two parts to it, right? There was the majority of it, which was public office in Indiana.

But he felt like you didn't exactly make it easy on yourself. And what he meant was... Oh, that's so kind. My, you know, my career, to the extent I had a career, there were two parts to it, right? There was the majority of it, which was public office in Indiana.

But he felt like you didn't exactly make it easy on yourself. And what he meant was... Oh, that's so kind. My, you know, my career, to the extent I had a career, there were two parts to it, right? There was the majority of it, which was public office in Indiana.

And there was the other part, which was service in the military. Yeah. By the way, that was still Don't Ask, Don't Tell back then, too, right? So I could literally be fired, which is another reason I didn't come out too quickly. And... Anyway, it was that process of just coming to terms with that and just knowing, even if I wasn't ready to tell everybody or deal with everything that went with it.

And there was the other part, which was service in the military. Yeah. By the way, that was still Don't Ask, Don't Tell back then, too, right? So I could literally be fired, which is another reason I didn't come out too quickly. And... Anyway, it was that process of just coming to terms with that and just knowing, even if I wasn't ready to tell everybody or deal with everything that went with it.

And there was the other part, which was service in the military. Yeah. By the way, that was still Don't Ask, Don't Tell back then, too, right? So I could literally be fired, which is another reason I didn't come out too quickly. And... Anyway, it was that process of just coming to terms with that and just knowing, even if I wasn't ready to tell everybody or deal with everything that went with it.

And in my case, that meant I wasn't going to start dating either because I didn't want to be hiding a boyfriend. That just seemed really unhealthy. And, you know, I was so invested in my work that for a while I wasn't missing. I mean, I don't want to say I wasn't missing much.

And in my case, that meant I wasn't going to start dating either because I didn't want to be hiding a boyfriend. That just seemed really unhealthy. And, you know, I was so invested in my work that for a while I wasn't missing. I mean, I don't want to say I wasn't missing much.

And in my case, that meant I wasn't going to start dating either because I didn't want to be hiding a boyfriend. That just seemed really unhealthy. And, you know, I was so invested in my work that for a while I wasn't missing. I mean, I don't want to say I wasn't missing much.

I didn't feel that I was missing a lot because I had this, I used to joke that like the city was a jealous bride, you know? Yeah. And then it was my whole, we talked about my deployment experience that put me over the edge.

I didn't feel that I was missing a lot because I had this, I used to joke that like the city was a jealous bride, you know? Yeah. And then it was my whole, we talked about my deployment experience that put me over the edge.

I didn't feel that I was missing a lot because I had this, I used to joke that like the city was a jealous bride, you know? Yeah. And then it was my whole, we talked about my deployment experience that put me over the edge.

I mean, there's years and years and years of that, right? Like, I mean, at some level when you're a teenager, like you're, there's some data, there's some pretty strong data points, right? But the things you can tell yourself, if you really want something to not be true, The things you can tell yourself to try to make it not be true are pretty powerful, right? I mean, you can tell yourself...