
Last weekend I had the pleasure of teaching two workshops for a National Coming Out Day conference hosted by The Society in Hartford, Connecticut:
"Out in the World" addresses the challenging process of transitioning from an especially LGBTQ affirming environment, such as a liberal university or region, to a less understanding place or situation. We talked about a variety of topics including the ongoing process of coming out, finding and interacting with medical providers, being LGBTQ in the workplace, building a family of choice, and how to balance issues of advocacy, safety, comfort, and living an authentic life.
"Living Outside the Box" is not an explicitly LGBTQ workshop, but touches on many areas of LGBTQ experience. This workshop looked at the multifaceted nature how we experience identities and/or belong to communities that can be seen by ourselves or others as being ideologically or materially incompatible.
It is easy to loose ourselves in "gayborhoods," whether actual places, or the LGBTQ corner of the web. The world outside remains a large and at times scary place. Who wouldn't choose associating with people on their own gender and/or sexuality journeys, over people who instead would deny us an equal place in society?
However, while America is rushing forward towards LGBTQ acceptance at a pace inconceivable a few years ago, with gains in marriage equality and trans visibility coming faster and faster, we need to remain conscious of the fact that what is only obvious and fair to us, is scary and new to many people.
In some ways, the dynamic is starting to flip between LGBTQ people and forces of intolerance in the US.
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