I've had gay friends who grew up in small towns in France who had to lie for most of their lives, even to themselves. But eventually such lies become stronger than the people, and they have to face them.
“My cousins gay, he went to London only to find out that Big Ben was a clock.”
“In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield.”