Come Out, Come Out, Wherever you are

This may have completely passed a lot of folks by in the hustle-and-bustle of the workday following a long weekend, but today was National Coming Out Day.

In our ever-celebratory world filled with days existing to honor the Watermelon, Old Rocks, Feet and Dressing up your pet, it seems perfectly fitting that we should honor a decision that is likely one that takes the most courage a person may ever have to muster: talking about their sexuality in a world that (to put it lightly) isn’t always ready to hear about it.

I have several dear friends who happen to be gay. Each one has had to hide, at certain times in their interactions, their sexuality in the workplace in order to “keep up appearances.” I’ve always felt badly that they could not feel comfortable talking about their home lives–just the normal stuff, like “went to the football game with XX this weekend”–for fear of retaliation or retribution at work.

This is not a political statement on my part. It’s just the way I feel.

In fact, I’m shocked that gay marriage is even a political issue; it’s an “issue” that exists because two people love and want to be with one another; it doesn’t seem to me to even enter into the political arena.  There are wars, health care, joblessness, homelessness, and much more pressing issues requiring leaders’ attention.

What keeps me up at night: soldiers coming home from war without limbs, or not coming home at all. Babies dying from cancer. Friends who have lost livelihoods, confidence, dreams due to losing their jobs. What problems my children are going to inherit when politicians quit in-fighting and realizing that we’re so far in debt we’ll never get out. Not if two men or two women get married to one another.

Gay, lesbian, and bisexual folks are still chastised, teased, and suffer terrible crimes–even murder as a result of their homosexuality. As many strides as it seems we’ve taken to embrace diversity in some areas of our lives, this is one that seems to divide people, families, communities.

To me, it’s a shame. What someone does in their bedroom is not my business.

Here’s to hoping someone took the step to come out today who never before imagined they would have the courage to do so. . .and was welcomed with open arms.

Earlier this year we ran a post on What Richmond parents think about gay marriage; we lost many of the comments in a recent site conversion, sadly. It’s one of our most-visited posts.