Join National Coming Out Day
If you are new to the concept of national coming out day you might not be sure whether it even applies to you. After all, you are in charge of your own life and you can decide whether or not you’re ready to come out of the closet on October 11th or any other day of the year. On October 11th national coming out day gives thousands of members of the GLBTQ community a chance to tell their friends, family, and mostly themselves that they are part of this community. The truth is that this day is set aside to offer you additional support if you are facing issues that could make coming out more difficult for you.
National coming out day is not (like critics would like to think) a day to encourage “recruitment” or other absurd ideas relating to joining the GLBT community. It is a day to allow the gays, lesbians, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning individuals of the world to find their own voice and make their own declarations regarding their own identity. It is most definitely about refusing to live the life of a lie and reaching out toward the community that is ready to offer you acceptance and support.
What makes it so important to make a declaration of identity? In many cases, those who have not come out are living some sort of a lie. They either find themselves avoiding their family or lying about relationships in their life because they are fearful of what might happen.
Instead, national coming out day gives you a milestone to consider. If you are getting sick of denying the truth to yourself, you might find it helpful to have a calendar date that signifies others who will also be coming out. This is a day when you will find that help lines and support groups are more readily available, especially as the day becomes more recognized.
There is no reason that you have to hide behind a façade any longer. Every time you make an excuse, avoid the truth, or have to work exceptionally hard to make sure your family never finds out about your lover you are telling yourself that there is something wrong with you. National coming out day is a day to embrace who you are, learn a little something about your community, and of course learn to love and accept yourself for the lifestyle that fits you.
Being gay or straight doesn’t have to make or break you. For some people, theological questions are abundant, and if you seek the answers through many different churches you might be rather surprised at how the thoughts and practices are changing.
Giving yourself some definition isn’t necessary in order to be happy. However, most of us find that this definition helps us mold ourselves into something that is truer to our own hearts, and there certainly isn’t anything wrong with that. National coming out day is a day of support for those who are ready to come out and those who want to know that there are others going through the same issues at the same time.
