Pride – Why do you have to ‘come out’?

This month is Pride month which celebrates people who are are apart of the LGBTQ+ community.

This blog needs a bit of a preface. Things like sexuality and gender identity are very personal subjects, we all have entirely unique perspectives and experiences of them and so there is no way that there could be a right and wrong way to approach the idea of coming out. For many people coming out is a large part of their journey to acceptance and peace as it allows for them to feel more apart of the community and have meaningful conversations with their friends and family. Coming out is amazing and I think if it is something you want to do and you are in a safe and appropriate scenario then go right ahead there is nothing wrong with that.

All I intend to offer for those reading this is another way of approaching the subject of coming out, as for me, I have always had an issue with labels, I like to live within the non-binary area of the spectrums of sexuality and gender expression. This is for many reasons, although one of the main ones and what I want to share with you today is the idea that being open and not labelling yourself leaves you open to endless opportunities and experiences. I am a person who believes that every day is a new day, and I just don’t believe I have any way of knowing who I will find myself being attracted to or identifying with in the future. And so, I don’t feel a need come out as for me my sexuality and gender makes no difference to me as an individual or how other people should perceive me, it is also something that is constantly changing and so it would be hard for me to identify with any label.

This does not mean that if you do identify with a label that you cannot decide to change it, this is a great example of why I have shared this with you today, because these personal aspects of yourself are completely in your own control and you should not let anyone effect how you identify or experience life through those lenses (including me!) I just wanted to open you up to the possibility that you can ‘live in the unknown’ as I like to call it taking every day as it comes and not feeling the pressure of society to express yourself in the conventional ways.

Coming out can be a huge milestone in the lives of many people, but for some people it is not something that they feel the need to or may be able to do, and that is perfectly fine.