Bar Elmaliach of 'HaPshuta' on his painful coming out: "Go back into the closet and lock the door"

Bar Elmaliach, the creator behind the online phenomenon and successful series "HaPshuta", reveals in an interview with Israel Hayom the difficult path he took toward self-acceptance. Growing up in Reut, he hid his sexual identity and his love for pop culture for years. Bar gives a glimpse into the moment he decided to come out to his mother and the harsh initial reaction that sent him back into deep concealment.

At the end of ninth grade, he gathered the courage to tell his mother he was gay. The reaction he received at home was far from empowering. Bar recalls:

"The information did not make her happy. She was worried and said, 'If you are gay, then go back into the closet and lock the door'."

This statement shook him and led him to retract his words out of distress:

"It threw me back into the closet for another two years. I answered her: 'I was confused, I was wrong. I am not gay at all, it was a dream. I love women and I want many women'."

The forced return to the closet led to a dark period of denial. "Those were the darkest two years of my life. Two years of obsessive denial," he details. In his search for answers, he even reached out anonymously to rabbis online, visiting websites that labeled being gay a grave sin.

Despite the initial shock, time and his mother's willingness to learn brought change. She began a personal process of coping, joining a support group for parents of LGBT individuals. When he reached high school, Bar came out to his friends and family, receiving their full support.

Looking back, Elmaliach holds no grudge against his parents:

"I do not judge my parents for the fact that it took them a moment to digest the news. After all, it also took me a moment to digest it myself. It was a different time. They were always good and supportive parents, and today they are the most accepting and loving there is. The best parents in the world."