So I've been watching a few of those "It gets better" videos on Youtube and also some other stuff, about coming out and similar stuff. My question is, why 99.99% of this is about people who knew since they were eight that they were gay and they came out at eighteen the latest? Why is that there basically are no videos about people who are coming out (to themselves, to others) later in life? When I was young there was nothing like this, now when there is, they are all treating it like coming out is only happening in high school. Maybe we have to make these videos... I promise if I'll get there to really believe it to say "it gets better", I'll make one, but until then, still searching for something I can relate with..
This is actually a phenomenally good idea. Although for late in life bi women I think it would be "It gets weirder" Hmmm. I'm going to think about this hard, actually.
Yeah, I think you've struck gold! I've really only watched one or two of these coming videos because I'm not really interested in watching a 17 year old come out and then cry on camera. Watching someone with a job and a mortgage and all the rest of it would be a bit more relatable.
At least for this guy I am no longer in the public eye, always felt bad for Governor McGreevey from New Jersey. Talk about coming out on video, ugh.
True, but in the same time I have to say that sometimes, in some ways I myself feel closer to that 17 years old, emotionally maybe. For me accepting being gay somehow started dragging out also other parts of me which are non-conforming, my artistic-creative side, which is very strong right now, the fact that I don't see myself in a traditional 9 to 5 setup all my life, the fact that I think traditional families are making a lot of people miserable, that I think we should love ourselves first and only then we could love others, and so on. "Job and mortgage" makes me freak out, though I can understand why people would choose that. I have a job though, a "traditional one", but not what I want on the long run. So I don't know. Anyway, the more people come out and tell their stories, on Youtube including, the more people will be able to relate. So yeah, I really want to do that at one point, really hope that I'll get there
This could be the next big thing. Also...I hear ya when you talk about feeling closer to 17yr old emotionally than a 34 yr old. Sometimes I wonder if I am alone in feeling so vulnerable and emotional and so ... on-edge-that-I-might-tell-youtube-before- tell-my-loved-ones. I hope you get to "that point" and feel good about who you are....because you are valuable. Thanks for sharing today.
Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm emotionally a kid, too! But I'm not a kid. I feel like I'm smeared from the age of 12 all the way to today. A video from someone like me would be great.
Tea Tree, I didn't get to write this last night because it was getting late (well for me, later) and its a little involved as it deals with something I've been working on lately. The idea of a video or something to that effect is a great idea -this same exact thing is on my mind and on my heart lately, too, but in writing. I'd like to write articles about my experience and the experience of others including another friend of mine now as well. I'm going to a coming out event this weekend and I'm wondering if I can find any people who are coming out over 30 there, though I'm fully expecting to be up to my neck in traditional age college students but I could be surprised. I'm so glad I found EC, because it was one of the only real answers that wasn't just an article-to internet search prompts such as "coming out as an adult." It just would help so much if there were real, in person organizations like this. This is an issue that isn't going to go away, either. Growing societal acceptance does not mean growing acceptance in the home, or in certain communities or churches. There might be less people coming out after 30 in the future, but then again, there may be the same amount, because the reasons most of us have presented as obstacles to fully embracing ourselves and our sexuality will presumably still exist in the world for at least the next few generations. Anyway, you should really go ahead with the process of trying to seek people out to make that video, if you have the time. Sometimes the process of creating- a book, a video, a story...is part of a larger cathartic process. You don't have to wait until it's all better and you're looking back on the experience. Doing it now-while you're in the thick of it-can capture the real raw emotion of the experience that would make it that much more powerful for others. Seeking those people out and making the video can be a giant step toward it getting better for you, by helping it get better for others
the thing with the "it gets better project" is that it is aimed at teens and youth. it was started by Dan Savage, advise columist and LGBT activist. in response to a spate of suicides and killings of LGBT youth a few years ago.
I know that's the start of it, and that particular project is about that. It is very, very important to focus on the young people because they often have nowhere to go and are at a very high risk of suicide. Definitely a priority-I hope to be able to contribute to and work with this effort in a few months or so. But there's also time and room for some support for adults as well, I think is the point-well at least was my point.
Yeah, this was not neccessarily stricly about the "it gets better" project. And it's very cool that there was such a thing and there are a lot of other things and videos for teens because when I was a teen there was nothing like this. Also unfortunately based on personal experience I can tell you that not only teens can be suicidal. But probably I have to be strong enough to get over this by myself, I should have got used to the fact that I am the minority among minorities... Sorry for the rant, just a very down moment and I needed to let it out :icon_sad:
