Gay Soldier Heartbreakingly Comes Out to His Father on YouTubeS

To celebrate the end of the military's ban against openly gay servicemembers, a gay soldier stationed in Germany decided to come out to his family and the world in the most public way possible: by recording a video and posting it on the internet. It's the sweetest thing we've seen in a long time.

The soldier, known as AreYouSuprised, has been running a YouTube page and a Twitter account where he openly discussed being gay in the military, but wouldn't show his face (though he showed off just about everything else). Now he's coming out to the world.

Anyone who has ever come out—or told a parent any secret—knows the nerves and uncertainty our soldier feels at the beginning of the video before he dials the phone. When his father in Alabama answers it's excruciating to watch him work up to telling him the big news, but when he finally does, his father's support is enough to bring tears to the eyes of even a cold-hearted bastard such as myself. Naturally, the soldier's dad is more concerned with his son drinking too much at Oktoberfest than that he's gay.

This is better than most "It Gets Better" videos and is a fitting requiem to the military's exclusionary and senseless policy. And our newly-out soldier's inbox better brace itself for the onslaught of well-wishes and requests for dates. Back off, boys. I'm first in line.