New here, still in the closet!

[Bob Kelso]

Must be very tough. What I do with my own religious relatives is interpret everything they say and do symbolically. It is a lot of work but I find it allows me to have a relationship with them that is somewhat respectful of their choices without getting caught up in the details. Naturally I try to limit contact since the effort is taxing and the relationship is too lopsided to really nourish me. My ability to keep it up depends on my finding fulfillment elsewhere. So yeah, branch out somewhere where you can do you. Then, if you still want to, you can also keep up with the relatives on occasion.

My favorite line keeps things copacetic when my family gets pushy/preachy:

"I appreciate the sentiment, I know this is coming from a good place for you but I'm fine so please just drop it."

I do my best not to sound sarcastic.