National Coming Out Day

There are many, many political issues on which my friends and I do not agree. I am very lucky, in that my lovely friends span the gamut in terms of political beliefs, religion, philosophy, etc. I say I’m lucky because really, how much fun would it be if we all agreed on everything? No debate, no bettering of ourselves…that would be super lame. So I find myself quite thankful that I have intelligent people in my life that disagree with me and push me to really understand why I believe what I do. Thank you, oh intelligent people. Without you, I’d never know if I was Team Edward or Team Jacob.

But in all seriousness, today is National Coming Out Day, a very special day for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people to celebrate themselves and each other. It is also a day for those of us who consider ourselves to be Straight Allies to stand up and support our LGBT friends in their (and all of our, really) fight for equal rights. I cannot imagine not being able to see Trent in the hospital if he was sick, or not being able to have my daughter in my life because of my sexual orientation. Why can’t I imagine this? Because it’s silly, sad, medieval and something that just shouldn’t exist in any society, let alone one that claims to be a beacon for freedom in the world.

A very encouraging sign is that I literally cannot name one friend, regardless of political or religious affiliation, who disagrees with me on this topic. I truly believe that this issue is a generational one, with out of date politicians and media whores unfortunately still in control of the national debate. I am sure when my generation takes control, politically, socially and in media, this debate will easily cease to exist. I am positive that when my children and my friends’ children are in their late twenties, this issue will be so far in the past, they will hardly acknowledge it.

But until then, it is our generation – smart, successful, intelligent, thoughtful people like us – who need to stand up to ridiculous posturing from politicians and hateful media mongrels and say, “What you are doing is NOT okay! You do NOT speak for me!”

Happy National Coming Out Day, everyone! Let’s all step up and support our LGBT friends and show them they are not alone in their fight. Let’s make the awful trend of suicide amongst LGBT youth a thing of the past, by showing them love and empowerment and fighting against those who want to make them feel less than. Let’s prove to them, and to ourselves, that we are better than what those in power seem to want us to believe.