Just Sayin' Now

Mom… Dad… I’m Gay!

Today Gay Video of the Week continues with a month-long celebration of coming out. October 11 this week was “National Coming Out Day.” Last week I focused on big-name celebrities and other well-known LGBT people. This week I present a collection of videos that mostly not-so-rich-and-famous people have recorded live at the moment they came out. A few are known in limited circles such as YouTube.

Being LGBT is Not a Choice,
Deciding to Live Authentically Is

Many people people from mildly homophobic to overtly hostile share a common fallacy about homosexuality. They think we choose it. They must think we wake up one day and say, “I’m bored with thinking girls are hot and having crushes on them. I’m going to like guys now.” If they gave it any serious thought they would realize they couldn’t flip their own switch on a dime like that. It’s absurd.

This whole question of choice is really answered by these videos. For most people it is an enormous and daunting step. It can be very frightening. For most people everything works out OK either immediately or after the parents and family have time to adjust. But you never know. Most everyone coming out wonders if they’ll get rejected by the people you love, or thrown out of the house, or even beaten. It happens.

Being LGBT is not a choice. But coming out — deciding to live an authentic life — is a choice. It’s an essential choice for most. But that long-anticipated moment can be very scary.