Don Bosco teen trying to bridge gap between faith, wrestling and his sexual orientation

GILBERTVILLE - Cole Fox's life took a drastic turn last month when he decided to make his sexual orientation public.

Fox wrote a letter to his dad, Ray - also the assistant wrestlig coach at Don Bosco - not knowing what the response would be from his father or the high school community.

As he waited, Cole told himself to remember one thing - 'expect the unexpected.”

'You are still a great son and I am proud of you,” his dad texted him back, Fox said in a story on SB Nation.

Cole said the response from his family, his community and his school has been nothing but positive.

His decision to come out was not only fueled by the confidence he gained by becoming a better wrestler, but also from what might be viewed as an unlikely source.

'Just this summer I came more in touch with my faith, which I think has a lot more to do with it,” Fox said. 'And with my faith I gained a lot more confidence and with confidence I felt better with who I was.”

Now that Fox has opened up about his sexuality, he hopes his story will help other gay Catholics.

'That's kind of my goal to make sure other gay Catholics know that it's OK,” he explained. 'It's really important for LGBT people to be visible, so that way other LGBT people who aren't quite sure what's going on know that it's OK.”

Fox said he's encouraged by the change he's seen at Don Bosco over the past decade, and in his effort to continue bridging the gap between the Catholic Church and the LGBT community, Fox tries to approach both groups with kindness and love.

'It's how I want to connect the two communities,” he said. 'It's something that needs to be done.”

With a wrestling resume that includes two trips to state, Fox might not appear to fit the gay stereotype. That also is something he'd like to see change.

'With wrestling comes a tough, masculine kind of notion and you can be that and you can be gay,” he said.

Although Fox has found acceptance and kindness from his family and the people at Don Bosco, there definitely were times he wondered whether he could be gay and still be Catholic.

'I grew up with Catholicism and knowing I was different, and I just kind of felt like if I want to be this, can I be this,” he said. 'It felt like an oxymoron, and really, we live in a world where you shouldn't have to be worried about that.”

As time goes on, Fox hopes people like him won't have that worry anymore.