Its National Coming Out Day! Ive been out for about 15 years and had a mostly positive experience with actually opening up to friends and family. For so many years I had to omit part of my life that was important to me and witness friends and family dismiss that part of my life as well. When Heidi was pregnant with Emerson, I decided that I wasnt going to allow myself or anyone else to minimize my life. How confusing would it be for our kids to have people refer to Heidi as their mom, but me as just a roommate? Everyone deserves to be acknowledged for who they are and not have to change or hide anything to make other people more comfortable. We could all use a little more tolerance. We dont have to accept everyone. We dont have to make room in own lives for people we arent willing to accept, but we must acknowledge the people we choose not to embrace and realize that just because we have our own personal prejudices or convictions does not mean that everyone should be held to those beliefs. So, thank you for acknowledging my life, for being supportive, for treating me the same now as you did before, for realizing that who I love does not change who I am. You dont have to tell me how much you LOVE Ellen, or that you have gay friends, or that youre ok with me being gay....you dont have to say anything - Just treat me (and every gay person you know) with the same respect you would treat anyone else. And to those who arent out yet...now is the perfect time.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 14:46:34 +0000