[aishah]

we aren't doing anything special here that i know of. our youth group meetings have been kinda sporadic since school started back up.

for me i find that i don't feel as strongly (or in the same way) about coming out as a lot of people i've talked to because of cultural differences. i did a lot of safe space panels in college and i always felt out of place because i didn't have the quintessential "really great" or "really awful" coming out experience and nothing has ever tied up neatly in my life. i had a really mediocre and painful and unresolved coming out experience. and i found that being from a rural, poor, mixed-race background, honestly - being queer was not always the biggest struggle or priority for me. i know a lot of people for whom it is, especially folks who are also from the rural south, specifically because of the isolation, etc. but that wasn't my experience.

i do think it can be really helpful to talk about coming out (not just about being queer, but about all kinds of struggles and identities) because i don't think anyone should ever feel isolated or alone or like they are the only one. i do think people should know that it can get better and you can have community and you can be accepted for who you are. but i also think that that needs to be wedded to a better sensitivity to cultural differences and needs that people have around coming out/not coming out/not prioritizing coming out. and it needs to be wedded to a deeper sense of commitment to (practically and materially) supporting people who face violence, homelessness, etc. for coming out.

so...i like national coming out day. i think it can be good to tell our stories and some of the complex feelings i (and others i know) have about national coming out day can be a good starting off point for deeper discussions about the multiplicity of experiences we have or the changes we want to create.