Today is National Coming Out Day, and I wanted to share my coming out story with The Locher Room community.

I met one of my first gay friends in high school—Jorge! Yes, we both knew we were different, or at least that we liked boys. I’m not sure if I fully understood what being gay meant at the time, but the feelings were there. I was two years older than Jorge and went off to college first. We lost touch during those four years, but in a random twist of fate, someone I met in college had also met Jorge and invited me to my first gay bar, where we reconnected. We've been best friends ever since—over 34 years now! We even stood up as best men at each other's weddings, something we couldn’t have imagined back in high school.

On May 16th, Michael Fairman and I will come together to host Daytime Stands Up: Benefiting Stand Up To Cancer. We All Have A Story! Tune-in live on Thursday, May 16th from 8 p.m-11 p.m ET as fan favorites from As the World Turns, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, Guiding Light, One Life to Live, The Young and the Restless and more, come together for this worthy cause. The show will stream simultaneously across Alan and Michael’s YouTube channels, as well as the Stand Up To Cancer website.

As Mother’s Day approaches, I can’t help but think of that special relationship gay sons and mothers have while also thinking about the incredible bond a mother and daughter have. 17 years ago this May, I lost my mother to lung cancer, and I so wish she could see this incredible community we have created here in The Locher Room.

As I sit here on this Saturday morning reflecting on the past four years, I am in awe and reminded daily of the community we’ve built here in The Locher Room.