The idea of Bryant’s Bridge is based on a true story. It was envisioned and developed in honor and memory of Sean Bryant’s mother, Dorothy Bryant, who “stood in the gap” for many, loving and providing for them until they could find their way to acceptance. This is Sean’s story.

When I was in my early 20’s, my first girlfriend “outed” me to my mother as she was leaving me. She wasn’t trying to be hurtful, but she wanted to let my mother know how much she loved me and couldn’t stay because I had been unable to figure out who I was and what I wanted in a relationship. My father was a renowned minister at the time, and this created quite a panic for her. When she asked, I was truthful. She asked me not to tell my father because it would break his heart. She asked me not to tell my brother because he would not accept me, and to keep it a secret. I felt as though I had lost all of my support in an incredibly difficult time in my life, the loss of my first love.

Vulnerable and trusting, I became involved with a person nearly 20 years older than I was, who was an active and abusive alcoholic. Nearly a year later, I left at gunpoint following a drunken rage, not even knowing until that moment that we owned a gun. While I had the wherewithal to not return, I found myself with no place to go. I stayed with friends for a short time and then asked my parents to help, of course not disclosing what had happened. They allowed me to live with my brother in a run-down house they had purchased for him, that I repaired in lieu of rent for the next year. I spent time with my brother, who completely accepted me, my friends, and I moved to a quiet mountain farm where I healed.

I returned to school for an advanced social work degree and my father became ill. I went to my mother to tell her I needed to speak with him about my sexuality. She replied, “Of course you do!” I realized that she had no idea that she silenced me in her time of fear several years before. My father had quite the opposite response than what I expected. He told me that he knew all along and that I was worrying about things that did not matter. He said that I would reach hundreds, maybe thousands that the church would not because they do not understand. He said they often miss the forest for the trees, and that I should not worry about that, but instead gave the command to “be who you are,” and let God take care of the rest.