How will You Honor National Coming Out Day?
October 9, 2019 1:45 PM
by Christopher J. Smith
Friday, October 11, is National Coming Out Day – a day to honor those who have come out and to invite those still in the closet to join us. To those of you who identify as LGBTQI+ or are questioning your gender or sexuality, National Coming Out Day is an opportunity for us at the City of Santa Monica to say we celebrate you, we value you, and we are here for you.
Santa Monica is observing National Coming Out Day with two Drag Queen Story Times, a fun way to learn about gender and sexual orientation. A program for adults will be this Thursday, October 10 at the Ocean Park Library from 7 to 8 p.m. and will feature Read with Gleam with Mayor Gleam Davis. The youth program is Saturday, October 12 at the Library's Main Branch from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. For more information on these events, visit www.smpl.org. And look for the Out in Santa Monica Team at this year’s AIDS Walk on October 20.
National Coming Out Day started 31 years ago in recognition that each of us who makes the decision to come out faces personal fears, risks jobs and housing, and challenges relationships to acknowledge and be recognized as who we are. Mayor and presidential candidate, Pete Buttigieg, captured his very personal journey as he shared his coming out story.
Following his tour of duty in Afghanistan and compelled by the realization of time and life passing by, Buttigieg overcame his fears of what it meant for him professionally or politically; he wanted to know what it was like to be in love. In coming out, he had to place his trust in the hands of the South Bend, Indiana voters. He found love and married his husband Chasten, and he won re-election by 80 percent of the vote. Out of his fear, he learned, “trust can be reciprocated.” You can watch him recount his story here.
For all the progress we have made to secure the rights and protections for our LGBTQI+ community; coming out remains a very personal and challenging experience - even in the most welcoming of communities such as ours. Here are three resources that can help:
Gay and Lesbian Center of Los Angeles
Authored By
Christopher J. Smith
Assistant to the City Manager