Gay lottery winner asks how much money he should give his homophobic parents
The lucky winner said he was unsure of how much of the prize he should share.
A gay man who won more than $15 million on the lottery has asked Reddit how much he should give his homophobic parents.
User ‘IDontWantToGiveItUp’ said that he planned to donate a portion of the jackpot to charity and invest most of rest.
He says he originally planned to pay off his parents’ mortgage – even though they disowned him when he came out.
However, his folks dismissed the offer and immediately demanded a quarter of his win.
“I’m a 29yr old guy and I won the lottery. And it’s enough that I don’t have to work ever again if I don’t want too (over 15m),” he wrote.
“My problem? My family, mainly my parents, feel they are entitled to 1/4 of the amount.”
“I offered to pay off their mortgages and give them a little sum but that’s not good enough once they found the total amount.”
IDontWantToGiveItUp went on to explain his difficult relationship with his parents – who described as “the definition of a distant white middle-class family”.
He also recalled their reaction to his coming out when he was just fifteen – stating they refused to speak to him for over five years.
“When it comes down to it, I don’t feel like they are entitled to anything and I’m being as generous as I can be,” he continued.
“The conversation got ugly and when my mom said, ‘we raised you,’. I immediately thought about how both my parents didn’t talk to me for 5yrs (ages 15-20), when they found out I was gay.
“And I almost failed high school because of it. Is that raising someone? Obviously I have hangups,” he added.
“How do I explain to them what my plans are again and how it doesn’t involve them?”
“I don’t want to ruin the relationships but I feel like the damage is done. I feel like a lot of people are going to say ‘F**k them.’”
Indeed, the majority of respondents to the post agreed with him – with a large majority suggesting he instead donates a portion of his win to a LGBT charity… in his parents name.
