What Makes You Proud?
I hope everyone had a great pride month! It blows my mind that it’s been 15 years since I came out. I’ve done a lot of self reflecting this month and wanted to share a bit about where my pride comes from.
Coming out was probably the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life. As early as elementary school, I learned that people would go out of their way to let you know that being gay was disgusting, unnatural and even evil. In middle school, there were times I was threatened and harassed for even hinting about my sexuality. By the end of high school I was pretty depressed. I hated who I was pretending to be and was terrified of being who I really was.
I came out after I graduated and was pretty surprised with how accepting people were. I started to notice people in my life change the way they talked and thought about the LGBTQ community. There were also a few friends and acquaintances who came out to me because they didn’t have anyone else to talk to or because they were unsure of their own sexuality.
It amazes me how much more accepting society has become throughout my lifetime. It makes me really proud knowing that by being my true self I played a little part in that progress.
There are still times where it can be hard to be true to some aspect of myself, but with the Supreme Court rolling back rights on women, Native Americans, the environment, and potentially gay rights, I think it’s very important right now for everyone to be their authentic self and to share their story with the world so we can keep progressing.
So I’d like to ask, what’s your story? What makes you proud?
Coming out was probably the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life. As early as elementary school, I learned that people would go out of their way to let you know that being gay was disgusting, unnatural and even evil. In middle school, there were times I was threatened and harassed for even hinting about my sexuality. By the end of high school I was pretty depressed. I hated who I was pretending to be and was terrified of being who I really was.
I came out after I graduated and was pretty surprised with how accepting people were. I started to notice people in my life change the way they talked and thought about the LGBTQ community. There were also a few friends and acquaintances who came out to me because they didn’t have anyone else to talk to or because they were unsure of their own sexuality.
It amazes me how much more accepting society has become throughout my lifetime. It makes me really proud knowing that by being my true self I played a little part in that progress.
There are still times where it can be hard to be true to some aspect of myself, but with the Supreme Court rolling back rights on women, Native Americans, the environment, and potentially gay rights, I think it’s very important right now for everyone to be their authentic self and to share their story with the world so we can keep progressing.
So I’d like to ask, what’s your story? What makes you proud?