I wasn't really sure where to post this, so sorry if it's in the wrong place. A while ago I posted this http://emptyclosets.com/forum/coming-out-advice/180812-came-out-my-whole-class.html For an English speaking assessment I am going to reuse the basic idea of this speech, but I will be giving it to a different class. For the new version of the speech I want to include people's opinions on whether or not you feel like you can come out and how comfortable people feel being openly gay in modern society. So of course I decided to come on here and ask you guys. What do you think. (I will upload a draft of the speech when its closer to finished)
Compared with the 90's, yes. In the 1990's, I recall being grilled on my sexuality like a suspected criminal, and I knew the consequences of not loudly denying them could be dire. They went out of their way to make you feel afraid, and they could smell it on you like dogs on a scent. The more you cowered and hid, the more they laid into you. That's the reason we started coming out. We realized humans and dogs aren't all that much different. If you run, you will be chased. It only encourages the aggression. Now, it seems almost imperative to come out. It is the only way we'll have any peace, to be visible and to be involved openly in our communities. As long as we're like some mythical creature that people just talk about or "from elsewhere" (here, there are sayings about San Francisco), the mixture of disgust and fascination will always be there. So no, I wouldn't say that I'm comfortable being out, but I am terrified of the closet. I have some messed-up PTSD associated with the closet.
