Today is National Coming Out Day – a chance for the LGBTQ+ Community is possibly tell the world who they are. While that’s all fine and dandy, you don’t have to come out if you don’t want to – or for a variety of reasons. Now I want to start by saying that I have the opportunity to be myself, because I have an accepting family & chances to hang out with other LGBTQ+ people – but I’m aware that not everyone has the same opportunity as I do.
So this first point isn’t about or for me – it’s for the people who can’t come out – and I just wanted to say that you’re still a part of the community & that you’ll be able to get out of the shitty situation someday. You don’t have to settle for a family members homophobia, transphobia etc and its more than OK to cut them off completely.
Secondly, it’s not as simple as being “out” or “in the closet” – because like most things, it isn’t binary, because many of us spend our entire lives coming out, like for a new job, a new school/college/university, or a new group of friends- having the same old conversations, expect with a new group of people.
But it’s still true that its YOUR choice when and who you come out to – and you are no less apart of the community if you choose not to come out or if you’re not out to anyone.
