Michael Sam, in a recent interview with GQ, talked about the hard nights and life he had while growing up, touching on his relationship with his “outlaw brothers.”
Have you been in touch with your family?
I’ve been in contact with my mom. We talk every other day. She texts me. My dad, on the other hand, hasn’t been in contact.
He must be following your progress, no?
I wouldn’t know. [pauses] Only a handful of people really know how I was raised. Certain family members weren’t…there. They were ghosts. My brothers were the ones who were there. Most of the time, that was scary. That was a small house, in more ways than one. I couldn’t be around. I tried to stay away as much as possible.
Walking out of the house at dawn and returning after dark—did that even work?
I still got beat up a lot. We called the cops on my brothers so many times I can’t even count. Not only for hurting me. They’d abuse my sisters. Verbally abuse my mom. Call me that word [“faggot”], although they meant “scared,” “sissy,” not “gay.” Our house was…strangers showing up, coming in. When I was a kid, I had no idea what they were doing. Now I know. My brothers were evil people. I don’t have a relationship with them now. They’ve both written me letters from prison. People tell me I need to forgive. I will learn to forgive them. I will love them from a distance, just like I love my dad from a distance. But I will never have a special relationship with them. What I went through was scary. For them to dare to call themselves my brothers—I can’t live with that.