Rob Maroc, a teaching laboratory specialist in industrial design. 

(he/him/his)

I didn’t “officially” come out until late in life, it was 2012 and I was 48 years old. I knew I was gay from about the time I was 12, and because of the way society looked upon homosexuals at the time I just knew it was something I needed to keep to myself.

In late September 2012, I had retired after serving for over 23 years in the military. I had to keep things pretty low key since I had enlisted before LGBTQ people were accepted in the U.S. military, and then after the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was instituted I still had to stay in the closet. There were a few people that knew but fear of losing my position forced me to keep it very hidden.

Late in the evening of Oct. 10, 2012, I saw that the next day was National Coming Out Day and my first thought was “Gee, if I had only had more notice I could have come out tomorrow.” Then it struck me there wasn’t anything I needed to do to prepare to come out, so I decided to just do it.

That evening I called my mom to tell her, she thanked me for finally telling her and she said she had known since I was in my teens. After that I posted a message on my Facebook page and made it official. The reaction I received was mostly positive and supportive. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I wondered why I hadn’t done it years sooner.

It wasn’t long after that I met the person I would marry, and we’ve been together for over seven years and married for five.

These coming out stories were put together by the diversity news editor, Madison Mason. If you or someone you know would like to submit your coming out story, then reach out to Madison Mason at [email protected] or submit your story here.