Hey, so just some background info before I get into the story. In my English and history classes, we've been working on this project called "Perceptions of Prejudice", and we've been exploring the effects of prejudice, discrimination, and injustices on different social groups, and the like. The end product is an individual presentation on whatever topic you'd like using either a poster, speech or essay we made, and so I chose to read my narrative essay on heteronormativity and queer representation. Story time now! I was really nervous the morning of, and was even more nervous when I saw that some of my friends were in the crowd, as they wanted to watch another friend's presentation, but missed it and decided to stay for mine. I got up to the podium, and read from my essay in a shaky voice. I would look up every so often, and it was really nice to see encouraging smiles and just general interest in what I was talking about. The applause at the end felt incredible, although I'm surprised that I didn't cry! We give feedback at the end of presentations, and one of my friends who didn't know that I'm queer said that I was brave for being so personal and could tell that it took a lot for me to speak about it. I got a lot of other nice feedback, which was just as good, and I remember trying not to smile so big/large (does that sound right? lol) as I walked back to my seat. So as of today, I'm out to my most of my friend group and my English class (although I've heard that people out of the class know) and it feels great! I feel like I'm on a sort of high, and it's nice to be open at school. It also helps that the environment at my school is incredibly accepting, and I'm happy I was able to feel safe coming out. Hopefully, I'll find that same courage soon and start coming out to family members! Thanks for reading!
Congratulations!! I gotta give you props for coming out that way and I'm glad everyone is accepting and such. I wish you luck on other obstacles in life and have a fantastic week!
Whoa...congrats on summing up the courage to come out during a presentation! One of my mentees did that and I have the upmost respect for people who muster up the courage to go in front of an audience and integrate coming out into their presentation.
Wow, my pulse was racing just from reading about your experience. Well written. You're very courageous and you should be proud. Peace!
