British MP Dan Carden says if he could give one piece of advice to young people it would be this “Be proud of who you are, and who you choose to love.”
Last week British MPs spoke in the House of Commons about international Pride month, and the Labour MP shared that he’d become an alcoholic while trying to suppress his sexuality.
In an emotional speech Carden fought back tears as he delivered his message for LGBTIQ+ youth.
“You may have had the frightening realisation that you feel different from the expectations that society has for you. You may be questioning your relationships, your gender or your sexuality. It is frightening. There is good reason to be fearful. Coming out is scary and you might suffer because of it. But what you probably have not been told is that hiding who you are into adulthood will cause you far more suffering anyway.
“Just growing up LGBT, with the cumulative effect of the daily denials, the constant fear of being found out and the internalised shame, causes a deep trauma. Despite social progress, and despite many of us never having experienced direct discrimination or abuse, rates of depression, loneliness, substance abuse and suicide among gay men are many, many times higher than across society, each of these in turn causing more shame, more fear and more trauma.”
“That is what happened to me. It took me a long time to admit that I was struggling with my mental health and alcohol addiction.” Carden shared, saying that it took repeated interventions from his loved ones before he addressed his addiction.
“I didn’t know, I denied I had a problem. I suppressed my emotions, as I’d learned to do as a kid, and I told myself things were fine. Only looking back now, have I been able to able to accept that in my twenties I twice nearly lost my life to alcohol.”
Carden shared that he is now three years into his recovery and he’d only been able to achieve his sobriety with the help of loving friends and family members.
‘Pride is about celebrating who we are, without shame. In the end it’s a simple choice – choose to hide or choose to live. My advice is choose to live.”
Dan Carden was first elected as the member for Liverpool Walton in 2017, and was return for a second term at the 2019 general election. He has campaigned for a ban on conversion practices in the United Kingdom.
OIP Staff
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