After Standing up To Abusive Father, Gay Immigration Lawyer Dedicates His Career To Helping Others [Video]

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Growing up in Houston, Texas, Will Strom stood out among others for his love of purple and affinity for short shorts. While these things made him happy, it drew negative attention from his peers – as well as his father, a homophobic divorced alcoholic. When his father moved to a remote town in Colorado and the custody agreement required Will to spend six weeks there each summer, the situation went from bad to worse.

Eventually, Will reached a limit and, in one particularly tense phone call, finally stood up to his father, essentially ending any meaningful relationship. By advocating for himself, Will quickly learned that he could advocate for others – and did so as an adult, working as an immigration lawyer on behalf of LGBTQIA+ people seeking asylum in the United States.

Transcript provided by YouTube:

0:00
[Music]
0:00
foreign
0:05
my name is will I’m from Houston Texas
0:07
from an early age I realized I was
0:09
different and didn’t fit in with other
0:11
children my age I loved the color purple
0:13
and for an eight-year-old boy in Houston
0:15
Texas that wasn’t okay I also enjoyed
0:18
wearing short shorts and I remember
0:21
playing soccer as a child and
0:25
some of my teammates took an issue with
0:28
the inseam of my soccer shorts I never
0:30
really understood it because
0:33
my Approach was always
0:37
my favorite color is purple or I like
0:39
these shorts and they make me happy
0:42
so it should make you happy my parents
0:44
got divorced when I was fairly young and
0:47
as I was growing up my relationship with
0:50
my father unfortunately
0:52
didn’t
0:53
pan out in the way that I guess most
0:55
people would hope my father
0:58
started
0:59
attempting to take the things that made
1:02
me
1:03
out of me and change me I remember one
1:06
time we were shopping in a store and I
1:09
walked by him it was a grocery store and
1:11
I I walked by him with my thumbs in the
1:16
back pockets of my jeans
1:18
and I remember my dad pulling me aside
1:21
and telling me that’s not how men
1:23
hold their hands in their jeans and put
1:25
their hands in the fronts of their jeans
1:27
the front pockets with their thumbs in
1:29
them not the back that’s how women
1:32
posts or wear their jeans when I was
1:34
maybe 12 11 years old my dad made the
1:38
decision to move out of state full time
1:39
which changed the custody Arrangement
1:42
that we had
1:43
it moved from every other weekend to
1:46
longer and more extended periods of
1:48
possession I would have to spend 42 days
1:50
with him in the summertime
1:53
now where my father moved was a far cry
1:56
from Urban Houston Texas
1:59
he lived in a very small town solar
2:01
power well water extremely extremely
2:04
isolated in addition to that after his
2:06
move to Colorado he really fell into
2:09
some severe alcoholism he was drinking
2:13
all day he would wake up with alcohol
2:15
and go to bed with alcohol the midday
2:18
drink for my father generally was
2:22
something Frozen like a frozen margarita
2:23
we didn’t have an ice maker so we had to
2:25
use ice cube trays I distinctly remember
2:28
the taste of whatever alcohol it was
2:31
that he was drinking for lunch in
2:33
whatever mixed drink
2:34
penetrating the the ice it was so strong
2:38
that if you broke the ice out of the ice
2:40
tray put it in a glass of water and
2:42
started drinking it smelled like you
2:45
were drinking a cup of Straight Tequila
2:47
he was very abusive towards me
2:49
emotionally and psychologically
2:52
I believe a lot of you have used him
2:53
from his alcoholism he wanted me to be
2:55
what he wanted me to be what he thought
2:58
I should be what a man should be the
3:01
summer of my junior year of high school
3:02
I had a phone call with my dad where we
3:05
were talking about my plans for the
3:06
summer and how things were going to work
3:08
I had begun working
3:12
and I remember asking my dad if I could
3:16
shorten the time that I was going to
3:18
spend with him or split it up into two
3:20
so I wouldn’t have to take a month and a
3:22
half off of my job off from work
3:25
and
3:26
he told me no at that moment
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I realized that
3:32
everything my father was doing to me all
3:35
of the abuse all of the hurtful things
3:40
all he was thinking of was himself
3:42
he wasn’t thinking about me and what was
3:43
best for me I realized that I had a
3:46
choice
3:48
I didn’t have to change for him I didn’t
3:51
have to listen to him and I didn’t have
3:53
to deal with his abuse any longer and so
3:55
I told him I told him what I wanted to
3:57
do
3:58
and I told him that I I did not want to
4:01
go up and visit him for the summer
4:03
and that was really the first time
4:07
that I told my father
4:12
just how hurtful his abuse had been
4:16
just how
4:17
much trauma he had put me through
4:20
and
4:21
it was really the first time that I felt
4:23
I truly truly
4:25
advocated for myself he didn’t take it
4:28
well
4:29
and
4:31
he told me that I didn’t have a choice
4:33
that it wasn’t up to me what I was going
4:36
to do for the summer there was a court
4:38
order that said that I had to do it
4:41
and
4:43
I told him that he was going to have to
4:45
Cuff me to take me from that point
4:47
forward my relationship with my father
4:49
was before ever changed
4:52
and
4:55
my eyes were clear that call with my
4:57
father
4:58
some of my junior year of high school
5:01
was the last meaningful conversation
5:03
that I had with my father before he
5:05
passed away from there
5:07
I realized that
5:10
a lot of people can’t do that a lot of
5:13
people don’t have the skill set the
5:16
tools the confidence the ability to
5:20
advocate for themselves and that
5:22
inspired me
5:23
to try and do that for a living today
5:27
I’m an attorney and some of my very
5:30
favorite cases that I work on are those
5:31
that impact the queer community
5:34
I have the great privilege of helping
5:37
Asylum applicants who are members of the
5:40
queer Community from time to time apply
5:42
for Asylum and
5:45
defend their claims these people are
5:47
fleeing
5:48
conditions that
5:50
are unimaginable unimaginable torture
5:53
and it’s honestly a true privilege to be
5:56
able to use my skill set and use my
5:58
privilege to help people of our
6:00
community
6:01
create lives here that are safe and
6:03
secure and it takes me back to that very
6:09
traumatic call that I had with my father
6:11
every time
6:13
and I I am just so grateful that I’m
6:16
able to help the community and advocate
6:19
for people like I advocated for myself
6:21
don’t be afraid to be you
6:23
don’t be afraid to be unapologetically
6:25
yourself
6:26
and when you’ve gotten to that point
6:28
particularly if you’re a member of the
6:29
queer community
6:31
don’t be afraid to stand up for others
6:33
[Music]

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This post was previously published on YouTube.

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