Why Coming Out on Coming Out Day Still Matters

Why Coming Out on Coming Out Day Still Matters
Can you even believe that it’s Coming Out Day again already?

October 11th seems roll around faster every year – or at least it seems that way to me. Launched in 1988 to mark the anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, National Coming Out Day it is the annual opportunity for us to step up, speak out and to “come out of the closet” by naming our reality as LGBT people. It is our annual opportunity to stand on the shoulders of Harvey Milk — who famously challenged us, saying “You must come out … and once and for all, break down the myths, destroy the lies and distortions.”

And this year – in the wake of momentous gains on marriage equality and the dramatic shift in public opinion that has pollsters scratching their heads and candidates adjusting their strategies – it’s also the opportunity to explain why coming out still matters.

Seriously. The White House is posting marriage equality memes on Instagram, the Supreme Court has just ended marriage discrimination in a majority of states and Modern Family is the top rated show on television. Even the Honey Maid Graham Crackers folks are on board with adorable commercials featuring fabulous two-dad families. How much more out do we need to be, for heaven’s sake? Aren’t we done yet?

The answer of course is no. We are not done. And we won’t be done until no gay kid is afraid to go to school because he’ll be bullied. We won’t be done until no lesbian teenager is afraid to walk home because she’ll be jumped. We won’t be done until no transgender woman has to hope she can make it to the ATM and back to her car without “an incident.” And we won’t be done until no child ever has to grow up being taught by his youth pastor that he is an abomination to God.

We won’t be done until this story – Chad’s story – has become a sad chapter in our history rather than a sad reality in our present.

That’s why this year on Coming Out Day I’m Coming Out again, all right. But I’m not just coming out as a lesbian — which frankly by now is breaking news to absolutely nobody. I’m Coming Out as a Christian.

I’m going to do whatever I can to offer a rebuttal to the rabid rhetoric of the religious right who have taken the Good News of God’s inclusive love and distorted it into a weapon of mass discrimination. Of humiliation. Of homophobia.

Because the stakes are too high. Because the damage to precious souls is too costly. And because the truth that there are people of faith who proclaim justice and compassion – not judgment and condemnation – is too important not to step up and speak out. As Harvey Milk said “You must come out … and once and for all, break down the myths, destroy the lies and distortions.” And for me as a Christian, those lies and distortions include hijacking my faith and turning it into weapon to wound God’s beloved LGBT children.

So Come Out, Come Out wherever you are. Come Out as proud LGBT members of the rainbow tribe. And if you happen to be the Christian variety, then Come Out as a Christian, too. Break down some myths. Destroy some lies and distortions. And if we do it long enough and loud enough and together enough eventually we will be done. And October 11th will roll around and nobody will need to Come Out because there won’t be any closets left.

And wouldn’t that be fabulous?

www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-susan-russell/why-coming-out-on-coming_b_5963056.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Andy Cohen, Robbie Rogers And Barbra Streisand Star In Throwback Thursday Celebrity Edition

Andy Cohen, Robbie Rogers And Barbra Streisand Star In Throwback Thursday Celebrity Edition

We regular folks aren’t the only ones digging through old boxes of snapshots or combing through old floppy discs to find photos to post online in celebration of Throwback Thursday, celebrities are doing it, too. Here are a few of our favorites today.

Andy Cohen

Loading

Throw THIS back! Me and my girl Jeanne Messing rocking it out at a dance in 1983. Looks like I went with a maroon sweater….

View on Instagram

Mario Lopez  

Loading

 

#TBT hangin out with Clooney back in ’96… Was super cool then & is still a nice, cool guy. View on Instagram 

Barbra Streisand

Loading

 

  Barbra w/ John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Ringo Starr. John was a romantic. He said one of his and Yoko’s favorite movies was The Way We Were !! #tbt   View on Instagram

Divine (or whoever is running Divine’s official Instagram account)

Loading

Divine dressed as Elizabeth Taylor for a school Halloween party with his date Diana Evans #divine #elizabethtaylor

View on Instagram

Robbie Rogers

Loading

 

Lay off me I’m starving. View on Instagram

Elvira (with Lady Bunny and Lypsinka)

#TBT Having a gay ol’ time in 1991 with @imladybunny @Lypsinka and Dan Mathews #throwbackthursday pic.twitter.com/z56hDm5A6v

— Elvira (@TheRealElvira) October 9, 2014

Joe Jonas

Loading

 

  #TBT I’m now a vintage wine.   View on Instagram

Tom Brady (in 1994)
10686743_792116724162813_2380026079209694578_n

Jeremy Kinser

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/hokZ8R-GsN0/andy-cohen-robbie-rogers-and-barbra-streisand-star-in-throwback-thursday-celebrity-edition-20141009

Mark Gilbert Talks Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festival 2014 (AUDIO)

Mark Gilbert Talks Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festival 2014 (AUDIO)
2014-10-08-HUFFFTL.jpgThis week I talked with Mark Gilbert, Interim Executive Director and Board Chair of the Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, which takes place in association with the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and is one of the most highly regarded LGBT film festivals in the nation. The sixth annual Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festival has expanded to seven days, taking place Friday, Oct. 10, through Sunday, Oct. 12, and Thursday, Oct. 16, through Sunday, Oct. 19. FLGLFF 2014 will be presenting 50 diverse, award-winning feature films and shorts, along with special events and parties throughout the city. Its mission is to enrich, entertain and educate the public through the presentation of international and culturally diverse films that offer meaningful perspectives on the historic and contemporary gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience.

I talked with Gilbert about this year’s festival and his spin on LGBT issues. When asked what he would like to see happen for LGBT equality in the next few years, he stated:

I would like to see the movement continue at the pace that it is. I mean, my dream, my vision — I used to do editorials and talk about what I hope would be one day, and we’re already seeing it. I’m a grandfather of two, and my boys don’t know any different — and when I say that, of course I mean as a grandfather of two adorable, loving children — and they’ll never know the difference, that gay was ever anything to wonder about. They’ll only know that Papa’s gay and their grandfather and they love him. My dream is 50 years from today — and even to take that to the next level, where, when they hear talk about marriage, gay marriage, marriage equality, if you will, they’re only going to know that there’s my two mommies, my two daddies, or Joey has two mommies or two daddies or two grandmas. Whatever it is, they’re going to feel the same love for them. It’s not going to be something special or different. It will just be part of our everyday lives that everyone will accept everyone for who they are, and it will be a world of just equality.

LISTEN:

Presented by HBO, Merrill Lynch and the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB/Broward Office of Film, Music & Entertainment, the sixth annual Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festival promises to be a wealth of films ranging from hilarious takes on relationships to compelling dramas and documentaries touching upon some of the more compelling issues in the LGBT community. There are also fabulous parties and events presented by Florida’s LGBT nonprofits.

For more information, please visit flglff.com.

Listen to more interviews with LGBTQ leaders, allies, and celebrities at OUTTAKE VOICES™.

Download interviews on iTunes.

www.huffingtonpost.com/charlotte-robinson/mark-gilbert-talks-fort-l_b_5951722.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

LGBT BLOG




You must be 18 years old or older to chat