Bashir
Bashir
I am 18 years old and I live at home at the moment with my parents, brothers and sisters. I have two sisters and two brothers. I am a second generation Pakistani, my Dad came over from Pakistan when he was 20, my mum was born here. I didn’t have a good time at school, I stayed on to do A levels but didn’t do well in them so I am now retaking them at college and hoping to go on to University. Going to college has been the best thing I’ve done. School was hard, I didn’t fit in, got bullied because I was chubby, Asian and gay. I wished I hadn’t come out at school. It’s not so much of an issue at college and I’ve made lots of friends and I’ve met my boyfriend, Aayan there.
I decided to tell my parents and family about my boyfriend; I wanted them to meet him. There’s been a really mixed reaction. My twin and eldest sister are very supportive, my Mum is really worried about me and my Dad doesn’t accept it at all. This has caused lots of arguments between me and my Dad because he doesn’t understand how I can be gay and Muslim but for me it’s not an issue and I still go to the mosque. He says I am bringing shame on the family and I’m not a proper man and he wants an arranged marriage for me. If this goes on, I’ll have to leave home but I don’t know where I’ll go. Aayan hasn’t told his family about him and me yet.
To get out of the house and have some time together Aayan and I go cycling. It helps me with my breathing as well; I’ve had asthma all my life and occasionally need to use my inhaler. It’s got worse recently because of all the stress at home and I suppose it’s not helped that I smoke when I’m with Aayan. I know I should stop but can’t. Another good thing about cycling was getting fitter but two months in I had an accident. I had a broken right arm and scraped the skin off my shoulder so that’s put paid to cycling for a while. Mum feeds us really well so I can see my weight going up again and that’s a bit depressing.