Celebrating LGBT History and Coming Out

by Richard Farias | Published Online on October 28, 2011

October is often overlooked as an LGBT-focused month. A few years ago, I’ll admit that even I was unaware of its significance. The month is often recognized as LGBT History Month, and October 11 is celebrated as Coming Out Week. Since I learned that fact, however, I have made it a personal mission to encourage people to learn about LGBT contributions in history and to tell their coming out stories – particularly to allies.

Last month, I had the good fortune to share my own story with the LGBT employee group at Boeing here at Port San Antonio (formerly Kelly AFB). It was the first instance in my life where I have shared my story with anyone other than a one-on-one audience. It was an enriching experience for me, and reminded me that we all have an important story to tell. These tales unite us and empower us simply in the sharing of them.

I have often reflected about why telling our coming out stories is such an important part of finding community within out LGBT community. Obviously, doing so allows us to have camaraderie with one another, and even with allies. But when telling my story to a handful of Boeing employees, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time – the extreme sense of relief I felt when I first came out. The feeling of a weight being removed from my chest. The exhilaration of true self expression and self identification. In all honesty, it was fabulous.

Thank you again to the wonderful employees at Boeing for inviting me to speak. I encourage all of you to recall what it was like to remove that burden from your body and soul. Tell your story to whoever will listen. Or, on the other side, ask someone close to you to tell their story and help them relive that sense of relief. It’s a powerful activity

Important Final Note: Thank you to all the ignite readers who responded to the request to call, write, or email members of the San Antonio City Council last month. On September 15, the City Council voted 7-4 to adopt domestic partner benefits for city employees. On the whole, our community united in a significant way to lobby for equal rights. And we got them! Even if you are not a city employee, this victory is a big step for us and it helps pave the way for future efforts. Please keep your ears and eyes open for future local calls to action for advocacy efforts. Equality is not a political issue; it is a human issue.

Come out, come out whoever you are,

Richard Farias
editor@igniteisonline.com

This article appeared in the October 2011 of ignite Magazine.