Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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UT students and twin brothers discuss their coming out journey

2014-09-24_Twins_Griffin
Griffin Smith

Everyone is on a quest to be different. This can be particularly hard in a world occupied by more than seven billion people. For Levi and Micah Scott, being different can be even harder when one of those seven billion people looks and loves just like you. Levi and Micah are twins, best friends and both gay.  

“We don’t know what it’s like to not have your best friend with you at all times,” Levi Scott said. “We haven’t really experienced loneliness like other people have.”

Levi and Micah, both anthropology juniors, have lived together every year of school and have managed to enroll in all of the same classes since their first semesters at UT. They said they have the same taste in guys, style and even share the same group of friends. 


Regardless of their proclaimed abilities to read each other’s minds, the brothers did not come out to each other until their freshman years of college.  

“We went to a party, I filled up a cup with vodka, we sat underneath the dining room table and we just told each other,” Micah Scott said.  

For both twins, the idea that one might be rejected by those they love was frightening. They each said to combat their fear, they turned to alcohol. 

“Right before coming out, we definitely drank a lot more because that was the only way we could say it. We were hiding the secret,” Levi Scott said. “When we started coming out, it turned into the only way that we could be relaxed enough to tell people.”   

The twins agree things have been awkward with family members since telling them last winter. Despite their difficulties, Micah Scott said having someone by his side made the process of coming out easier.   

“Our dad is a lot more comfortable talking about it than our mom is,” Micah Scott said. “She’s still praying that the Lord will come down and touch us. It’s hard.” 

After coming out, however, both Levi and Micah said they were able to focus on their academic performances due to lower levels of stress. They drank less and felt more comfortable at school and home.   

“When we had the secret, I definitely didn’t pay attention in school at all,” Micah Scott said. “For about two weeks I was constantly near panic attacks in class.”   

Holly Pollack, a math and education junior, has been friends with the twins since they were in high school. She said the twins have relaxed and opened up more since high school and have become busier than ever before.

“They’re pretty different,” Pollack said. “Micah is more reserved initially, but Levi is more social and wants to talk to you right away. They are so much fun, but they’re apart more now. I actually have to group text them now.” 

According to Pollack, the twins’ growth was not just in coming out but in opening up more and being comfortable in their relationships. She said they have a closer relationship than most and communicate in their own distinct way. 

“They definitely have their own language,” Pollack said. “They’ll speak in half words and eyebrow twitches, and they can just communicate like that. It’s so cool.”

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UT students and twin brothers discuss their coming out journey