Indie Wrestler Says His Pro Wrestling Career 'Has Gotten Better' Since Coming Out
American based pro wrestler, Mike Parrow, was recently on Good Morning Britain to discuss publicly coming out as gay, as seen above. Parrow stated that he always realized that he was attracted to the same sex, despite trying to think otherwise. He would also state that there are not any role model for athletes, "because athletes tend to come out after they retire because of fear of, maybe, rejection, fear of different pay, fear of people just not accepting them for who they are." He added, "I've had the opposite. My career got better since I've come out, because I'm now who I am. But, as a kid, I had no role models whatsoever to look up to. So, I was like, there's no way that there's people like me. I'm all by myself."
Parrow stated that he tried Gay Conversion Therapy, but it did not work.
"I want to first say that it was my choice, and I can't tell you whether it works or it doesn't work. This is why it didn't work for me and it's my opinion and why I left," said Parrow.
"When I first started to come out, I had really negative experiences. Like it was a lot of rejection because I thought, oh, guys are going to love me. No, they did not love me whatsoever. First of all, I had no idea of how to talk to them, I had nothing idea about the community and the people that I was going after were going after me for a look rather than who I was. But I never understood that, because it's never usually like that in the heterosexual world." His rejection in the community led him to go through the therapy to see if there was "another option."
During therapy, Parrow would say that it is the first time that he did not feel alone, and that he discovered there were others who shared the same feelings as he did. However, he disagreed that the therapist said that being homosexual was a choice, which allowed him to cement his decision to come out. Parrow is now engaged, and said that his promoters Gabe Sapolsky and Court Bauer told him that he "is not going to be good unless you are who you are. We can't have you not be you, because we can't get the best of you."
He said that his ultimate goal is to compete at WrestleMania, and "represent his community in a positive way."
If any portion of these quotes is used, be sure to H/T Good Morning Britain via WrestlingINC for the transcription.
Source: Good Morning Britain
Randy Sanders contributed to this article.