![gay pride boston 2015 gay pride boston 2015](http://s3.amazonaws.com/media.wbur.org/wordpress/18/files/2015/06/picDykeMarch150612t_0961w.jpg)
By junior year, I’d had it- I stopped going to church and trying to squash it in my head. So I kept going to church, kept praying to God to banish these thoughts, kept feeling guilty for my sinful nature. Her response: “Well, in my all-girls catholic high school I had friends who had crushes on girls. The first time was when I was a freshman in high school. But I digress.įor me, coming out has been a process not just in terms of having to come out to different people over time, but also multiple times to one person: my mother. That is, unless you don a pixie cut, cuffed jeans, septum piercing, and a tattoo sleeve- but even then many straight people will still assume you’re just edgy. For every new person you meet, you can choose to come out- or not. You don’t just come out once and then voila- everyone knows you’re queer from that point onward. I have trust that we are heading in the right direction and that we will end up on the right side of history.įor most queer folks, coming out is a continuous process. I hope that one day, I can be accepted: for who I am and for who I choose to love. Like many of you reading this right now, I want to imagine a world where being your whole authentic self is celebrated. By coming out and letting those around you recognize that we exist, that we are normal, and that we deserve to be treated like everyone else, it makes it hard to create laws and rules that choose to exclude us. The reason why National Coming Out Day is a significant day of celebration, is because without representation, we hold no power. It’s about giving yourself permission to pursue happiness the same way that everyone else does.Īt the same time, it is also important that we recognize “coming out” is the first step to reaching true equality. For the LGBTQ+ individuals reading today, we honor and celebrate with you, no matter where you may find yourself in this journey.Ĭoming out is a tool that we (in the LGBTQ+) community use in order to claim our space, accept our identities, and declare that we cannot be any less than our whole authentic selves. Beside being personally liberating, coming out is a means to claim space. Coming out is a way to fight the silence. Hate and prejudice thrive in environments of silence and ignorance. In a society that still grapples with homophobia and transphobia, coming out is as salient and powerful a tool as ever. And across the nation, LGBTQ+ lives continue to be threatened, chastised, bullied, disowned, and even lost every day, often exacerbated by intersectional factors such as race and socioeconomic status. Concerns over the future of same-sex marriage have mounted as the SCOTUS shuffle progresses. Twenty-seven states still lack workplace protections for both sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in public and private employment. “We come to represent who we are as queer folks, and as Christians,” he said, adding that he also couldn’t miss Boston’s biggest party.National Coming Out Day (October 11) is a day of great significance to the LGBTQ+ community, and NAAAP Boston proudly joins in celebrating those who have come out or are in the process of coming out.ĭespite great strides over the past decades, LGBTQ+ individuals still encounter significant challenges in and out of the workplace. He said he preaches that homophobia is a heresy, and he said society must dissuade people from thinking that being gay is wrong.
![gay pride boston 2015 gay pride boston 2015](https://bgbl.com/wp-content/uploads/gay-pride.jpg)
Jeff Mansfield of the First Church Somerville proudly led a group of his parishioners, a substantial proportion of whom are from the LGBTQ community. “We don’t harm anybody,” said Sorto, 29, who is gay. Parade-walker Manny Sorto, a member of a Latino pride group, said there is much more that needs to be done before equality is achieved within minority groups. The groups represented about every imaginable part of Boston: churches, university groups, hospitals, law enforcement,īig corporations, like Wells Fargo, and regional groups, like the New England Asexuals. Pop music blasted from floats, pumping up the crowd, while a band played songs like Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” Paradegoers came dressed in rainbow tutus and capes, bathing suits and full-leather outfits. Walsh cut a rainbow ribbon as about a hundred motorcycle riders revved their engines at Copley Square to signal the start. The parade kicked off around noon when Mayor Martin J. “I was afraid of judgment and fear,” she said.