We Spoke To The Creator Of “Mom I’m Gay”, Possibly The Greatest Coming Out Video Ever

Last week, a coming out video went viral. It’s not unusual for videos of people telling their families they’re gay to go viral, but this one was different. Rather than a heartfelt video of an emotional conversation, it was a meme: the words “Mom I’m gay, LOL, luv u, don’t tell dad”, set to the tune of Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas.

It’s the kind of art that’s best experienced firsthand — you can watch the video below if you haven’t seen it already. It was uploaded to Twitter by Ally Shepherd, who captioned it “y’all … this is how my little brother came out to my mom in 2015 & I’ve still got it stuck in my head”.

y’all … this is how my little brother came out to my mom in 2015 & I’ve still got it stuck in my head pic.twitter.com/S6n5KdzWZe

— Ally Shepherd (@allyshepp) January 6, 2019

That tune will probably now be stuck in your head too, sorry. Take comfort in the fact that you’re not alone — the video has been viewed more than three million times in the past week, and shared by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Somehow, for some reason, this extremely weird coming out video resonated with the masses. We got in touch with its creator, Ben Shepherd, to find out one simple thing: why?

Ben told us he was 15 years old when he came out, which explains things a little bit. “I didn’t feel like doing the whole tearful coming out thing where I tell my mom and we both cry because I don’t feel my sexuality is a thing to take so seriously,” he said. “I see coming out as such a small part of my life because it is just a part of who I am.”

Fair enough, but why this particular strategy? “I thought about just yelling it and running away, very casual, but I thought it would be best to do it digitally to avoid any kind of reaction I wouldn’t know how to handle,” Ben said. “I chose Boom Boom Pow by The Black Eyed Peas because that is the most casual song to come out with.”

“I chose Boom Boom Pow by The Black Eyed Peas because that is the most casual song to come out with.”

And as for whether the strategy worked, Ben said his mum was “very supportive”. “She already knew, it was pretty obvious, all I listened to at the time was Lady Gaga, how could she not know?”

He also told us that despite the key line “don’t tell dad”, his dad now knows and is also supportive, though he didn’t receive the news via Boom Boom Pow.

“I told my dad in a more traditional way because he was more religious and a funny video wouldn’t communicate enough for him to understand,” Ben said. “We had a good talk and he expressed his support, which was very reassuring. He knows about the video going viral now and finds it really funny.”

So there you have it: proof that in this day and age, you really can come out via meme and make it through unscathed (hard to fathom for those of us who had a more difficult time coming out, but comforting nonetheless). Obviously, Ben’s strategy isn’t for all of us — for lots of us, coming out is still a tough and tense situation in 2019. But if a more relaxed way of coming out appeals to you, Ben’s advice is to “just have fun with it!”

“Coming out is such an unnecessary thing that we, being gay, have to do, so just make it your own. Be funny and creative and do it on your own terms.”

If you’d like to borrow Ben’s specific methods, he’s made the original video available on Twitter:

posting this for anyone who saw my sisters post and needs a fun casual way to come out to their mom :0 @allyshepp pic.twitter.com/MeuWFvEjQi

— Ben (@benshep4) January 8, 2019