In honesty, I dislike the term "coming out". IMO it just makes non-heterosexualism and non-cisgenderism seem almost unusual or something to be made a fuss of. I also don't get "gay pride" - I mean, I can completely understand why people have it, certainly those individuals who have stood up for themselves when the likes of their families and religions have condemned them for their sexuality, but I'm not proud to be gay. That doesn't mean I'm ashamed of it, though. How can I be proud of something I was born with? It's just another aspect of my personality but it doesn't define me. Anyone relate/agree/disagree? Just something I've been thinking about for a while.
That I get. I'm pretty lucky in that my family aren't homophobic (some of the older Christians on my dad's side might be) (oh and not to mention my gran's not sure about letting my little cousins know I'm gay even though they know what it means... ffs!!!) and that this is the 21st Century. I just don't see the sense in it. BUT I bet I go to a Pride event and go wild! I've an issue with taking the world as it is and instead acting as it should be, which in many many cases is a good thing but means you can be ignoring a lot.
I think it had to do with being proud of who you are not being ashamed. I'm black and for a long time in history being black was thought of as being less...thus we learned to take pride in our history and overcoming segregation and slavery and discrimination. We are not ashamed of our skin color, as we were forced to be for years, but now we are happy to say we are african american. I'm a lesbian and in many places, being gay is looked down upon. Some of our gay ancestors were killed or harmed for who they are (Alan Turig). Now we are not ashamed to be gay, but proud to be it. We celebrate overcoming and still fighting against oppression. its not that we are being proud of being born this way, but proud of our heritage and steps in history
The pride thing makes sense but I have to agree with you somewhat on the coming out part; I don't particularly have an interest in 'coming out' but would rather everyone just pick up on it over time on their own. I like the post made by DrkRayne as well.
Statistically speaking, it is very unusual. But it absolutely isn't something that should be fussed over. That is a product of the expectation of heterosexuality. Quite like "innocent until proven guilty" it's "straight until proven otherwise." But because being gay is not objectively bad like being guilty of a crime, it's a silly social norm. Not completely off-base, but antiquated in that it's still pretty much a fixed rule. But on the other hand, not every declaration of GSM status has to be a "coming out." If you made no previous attempts at hiding it, you're not really in the closet even if nobody knows. I think it would be really awesome if one could casually mention their orientation when relevant and the listener could just take it into account without missing a beat. Now that will be ultimate victory in gender and sexual equality.
