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Coming out, not all it used to be
True life: What does a homosexual have to do to get special treatment around here?
If you are a homosexual, bisexual or transgendered person you may at some stage in your life feel like mentioning this to someone; this is called coming out.
Unfortunately, it’s not all that it used to be. Gone are the parental reactions that True Movies are made of. More often than not it’s a case of ‘Well, obviously!’ or ‘Damn, my money was on your brother.’ You may find after all of the stress and anxiety over how people will react, the only person who is bothered by it is you. The anti-climax can be a little disheartening; but mother, don’t you want to call the priest and have him cast out my demons or something? Alas, she’d rather go back to watching Fair City.
Coming out will not make you any taller, funnier (why does Gillian have two i’s? so Gillian can see!...shut up, I’m hilarious) or more attractive, but it will, more than likely, make you feel more comfortable with yourself and give you an new perspective on other people.
While my own parents reacted badly at first, within a week it had swung to ‘We support you no matter what!’ Now that’s not going to fill out the chapters in my autobiography, it certainly won’t get me onto Oprah’s couch anytime soon and no, that’s not a euphemism for anything.
The most traumatic part of the whole thing was when mother decided to start singing along to ‘I Kissed a Girl’ in the car last week, but gay or straight, no daughter needs to hear that. So I decided to try college for a bit of the old discrimination, but the second year Media Artists are gayer than I am. My good friend, Zephra, broke it down for me one day ‘Gillian, no offence, it’s just that nobody cares.’ I don’t even get that sideways glance for the gay reaction when Ellen Degeneres comes up in conversation.
I mean, what does a homosexual have to do to get special treatment around here? The best you can hope for from the experience really is the ability to feel more relaxed in the company of whomever you have come out to and an excuse to go around singing ‘I’m coming out. I want the world to know. You’ve got to let it show!’
Further information and support:
BeLonG To
Web: www.Belongto.org Phone: 01-873 4184
Supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) young people.
LGBT support and information in Ireland: http://belongto.org/groups.aspx
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