Tommy MacDougal

Thomas Elijah "Tommy" MacDougal is an American television personality. He was a cast member on The Real World: New York, the first season of The Real World.

Life
MacDougal was born on August 10 in x|Oneonta, Alabama to parents Thomas and Elaine MacDougal (née Jamison). His father is a car salesman and former college football player, while his mother is an elementary school teacher. He is of x|English and x|Scotch-Irish origin, and was raised a x|Southern Baptist. He is the eldest of three sons; his younger brothers are Peter and Jeremy.

MacDougal attended public schooling, graduating from x|Oneonta High School. While in high school, he was a varsity football player and class president, while also serving as a youth minister at his local church. After graduating, he began attending the x|University of Alabama, where he studied political science. While in college, MacDougal was a member of the x|Pi Kappa Alpha (ΠΚΑ) fraternity and x|Alabama Crimson Tide football team, but was frequently benched and did not play in one game. He began suffering from depression due to his lack of involvement in football, which led him to discover his sexuality. MacDougal began coming out as gay to his friends during his senior year of college, where he was accepted by most of them. After graduating, he came out to his family and was accepted.

Biography
''Raised in a typical southern family in rural Alabama as the eldest of three sons, Tommy grew up as his father's golden child. A popular student throughout his schooling who played varsity football, was a youth leader at his local church, and served as his school's class president, Tommy's picture-perfect life began to crumble after beginning school at the University of Alabama and realizing he'd never be able to the pursue the professional football career he always dreamed of. Slinking into a depression, Tommy was led out of his mental illness after falling in love with another man. Since coming out of the closet as gay, Tommy wants to find the balance between the conservative southern boy he knows he is and the LGBT community he never had in Alabama. ''