Lez Keep It Real

Today’s Come Out & Play post spotlights National Coming Out Day

National Coming Out Day is an international event which gives gay, lesbian and bisexual people the opportunity to “come out” to others about their sexuality. It also provides a means of increasing the visibility of gay people.

The first National Coming Out Day was held on October 11, 1988. This date was chosen for the annual event in commemoration of the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. It also marks the anniversary of the first visit of the AIDS Memorial Quilt to Washington, DC.

Many communities and college campuses sponsor programs such as dances, film festivals, workshops, literature booths, and rallies to mark the day.

Yesterday was the “official” National Coming Out Day, but since Friday’s are reserved for Come Out & Play, I thought I do a little reminiscing today instead.

The first time I was made aware of National Coming Out Day was in 2002, when I was working at Wheelock College in Boston, MA. I had a HUGE crush on one of the students who went there. And by huge, I mean borderline obsessive. Don’t cringe! She was only two years younger than me, it’s not like I was robbing the cradle or anything. I had just graduated from college the year before, and she happened to be a senior at Wheelock that year.

It was hard not to mingle with the students and become friends with them, especially since we were so close in age. In fact, one of the girls I became friends with who was a student at the time I worked there is now dating my brother. They’ve been together for almost six years now!

Back to the story. The girl I was crushing on, simply put, was gorgeous. But I had no clue if she was gay or not. On looks alone, she could have passed for any straight girl. And my gaydar was malfunctioning. It was about as effective as a snowball in 100 degree heat. For weeks I agonized over it, weighing all the possible scenarios in my head. I was confused because she flirted with me often and yet she had an off and on again boyfriend. Then one cool, crisp day in October, I walked into the building where she worked as a student to drop off some papers and, low and behold, she was wearing a pink triangle on her shirt! I thought, yes! She’s fair game! I decided to ask her why she was wearing it, just to be sure.

It was then that she placed a pink triangle sticker on my shirt and informed me that it was National Coming Out Day. Everyone should support it. Everyone, I thought? Meaning, straight people too? Yes, she confirmed, everyone.

Great. I was back at square one, keeping my feelings for her safely in the closet.

That was my introduction to National Coming Out Day. Since then, I’ve learned more about the history behind the day and have grown to appreciate it more. As for the girl, well it turns out that she was, in fact, a lesbian masquerading as a straight girl. But she was already seeing someone by the time I figured it out. Needless to say, every time I see a pink triangle I think of her and wonder how she is doing. National Coming Out Day will always make me smile, and not because I came out that day. But because one of my first major crushes was attempting to come out herself, in the best way she knew how.

These celebrities are happy being out & proud.

Tune in every Friday for the Come Out & Play series, featuring coming out stories of celebrities, every day people, personal reflections, advice, tid bits and everything else concerning the complicated world of coming out!

Got an interesting coming out story to tell? Contact me and I will feature it in an upcoming post of Come Out & Play.

wheelock college, national coming out day, gaydar, pink triangle