On National Coming Out Day the rainbow center held an event for students to listen to poetry and other students’ personal experiences with coming out. Walking in I was a little nervous and was not sure what to expect. No one in my family or my close friends have ever dealt with coming out, so this was new to me. Although I was not very knowledgeable about what it is like to come out, I was still interested in learning about what other people have gone through. As I walked in my eyes went first to the painting in the front of the room. One was a lion and a woman, and another was a girl drawing a heart to cover up the word hate. I liked the paintings, they were bright, colorful and obviously had a lot of meaning behind them. They seemed to
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Wambui went up to the front of the room and came out as an ally. She explained how she does not have to come out because people assume her sexuality. Even if people support the LGBT community, they often assume other people are straight. This can make people nervous to come out from fears of disappointing or being judged for being different. Wambui’s main point was to be supportive and to be an ally for those going through the process of coming out. If you have not gone through it is difficult to relate to how nerve-wracking or scary it is, so the best you can do is be empathetic, listen and offer support. This was one of the things that stuck with me the most after the event. Wambui made me realize how important it is to be an ally and to be accepting of people who trust you enough to share such a big part of their lives with you. While straight people do not need to come out, they can still have an important role in the coming out process as a support system. It was very effective to have students talk about their experiences. As peers, they offer perspectives similar to many of the members of the audience. Four students spoke, and each student had different experiences. Some of their parents were accepting, while some were not. However, the three LGBT student speakers all admitted they had a hard time accepting and adjusting to who they
Wambui went up to the front of the room and came out as an ally. She explained how she does not have to come out because people assume her sexuality. Even if people support the LGBT community, they often assume other people are straight. This can make people nervous to come out from fears of disappointing or being judged for being different. Wambui’s main point was to be supportive and to be an ally for those going through the process of coming out. If you have not gone through it is difficult to relate to how nerve-wracking or scary it is, so the best you can do is be empathetic, listen and offer support. This was one of the things that stuck with me the most after the event. Wambui made me realize how important it is to be an ally and to be accepting of people who trust you enough to share such a big part of their lives with you. While straight people do not need to come out, they can still have an important role in the coming out process as a support system. It was very effective to have students talk about their experiences. As peers, they offer perspectives similar to many of the members of the audience. Four students spoke, and each student had different experiences. Some of their parents were accepting, while some were not. However, the three LGBT student speakers all admitted they had a hard time accepting and adjusting to who they