Rami, 22, cut from family photos and forced out after revealing he loved another man

22‑year‑old Swedish Rami never imagined that telling the truth about who he loved would cost him his entire family. But the moment he confessed that he was in love with a man, the household erupted. Screaming, tears – and a father who silently fetched the family photo albums and began cutting his own son out of every picture. Within minutes, Rami was erased from his childhood and standing in the hallway with two suitcases, the door to his old life slamming shut behind him. Rami was raised in a muslim household.

As expressen.se reports, the shame had been planted years earlier, when his mother discovered flirtatious chats to boys on his phone and dragged him to doctors to «explain» him. He spent his teenage years trying to crush his feelings, terrified of disappointing the people he loved most. When he was heartbroken for the first time, everything collapsed – he smashed his head against a wall until he passed out and woke up in a taxi on the way to psychiatric emergency care, with his mother sobbing beside him. Still, he couldn’t tell her why.

Everything shifted when he met Simon, Rami told expressen.se. They fell for each other online, and one warm summer evening at a Sabina Ddumba concert, Rami finally asked if they should be boyfriends. But their love became dangerous. Simon was banned from the house after Ramis father found them asleep in the same bed. When the family went on holiday, they asked neighbours to spy on the flat. A message from Rami’s mother – «get him out or I’ll call the police» – left Simon too frightened to even open the curtains.

When the truth finally exploded and Rami was thrown out, he spiralled into darkness. He isolated himself, suffered daily panic attacks, developed an eating disorder and failed his courses. Simon watched him fall apart and tried to hold him together when he could barely stand himself. What eventually saved Rami was something he had never been allowed at home: speaking openly, honestly, without fear.

Today, as expressen.se notes, his contact with the family is almost non‑existent. His mother called once – but every time Rami mentions Simon, the conversation ends. He refuses to pretend his partner doesn’t exist. Instead, he carries a different fear: that on his wedding day, Simon’s side will be full, while his own stands completely empty.

Editor note : Rami and Simon — not their real names.

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