The Story Behind America’s Youngest Gay Dad

Twenty-year-old Brian Mariano finds the normal life overrated as he explores being a gay dad with his 2-year-old son Aison.

Mariano became a father with then-girlfriend Kelly when he was still in high school, and the two are negotiating all the struggles of young parenthood – plus a few extra. As a father, Brian Mariano feels lucky to have close family and friends who support him. But the gay dad (the youngest American gay dad we know of) from Newton, Massachusetts, admits that sometimes some people just don’t get him.

“Everybody in my life is really supportive of me,” he said. “If it’s someone new and a friend mentions I’m a dad, they will stop. ‘Wait, what? How are you a dad? You’re gay.’ It’s like that ‘Mean Girls’ quote sometimes. You know – ‘if you’re from Africa, why are you white?’”

Still, Mariano knows that from the outside looking in, his story is anything but typical. The young man was a junior in high school when his girlfriend, Kelly, became pregnant. They had been dating for a year.

“I like to refer to myself as a ‘Kellysexual,’ which may sound really weird,” he said. “I’m gay, but there’s Kelly. Everybody kind of knew that I was gay. I didn’t really have to say it. People will come along and ask if our relationship was a cover-up. And I say, well, I got her pregnant, so I don’t think that’s the case.”

Kelly gave birth to Aison Mariano-Nichols, who will be turning 3 years old in March. The two stayed together for the first two years of Aison’s life before they eventually split.

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gayswithkids.com – December 12, 2015 by Michael Lambert