June is Pride month, an important time each year for celebrating love, acceptance, and living authentically. In this installment of Meetup Live’s Dismantling Social Injustice (DSI) series, we’re honoring Pride with a conversation about coming out.
Watch for a panel discussion with LGBTQ+ members as they share their stories of coming out to their friends and family. Hear about the validation that came with sharing their LGBTQ+ identity and learn how they found a community that embraced and supported them throughout their journey.
Main Takeaways:
- Arielle: If you’re considering coming out make sure that you prioritize your safety first and foremost. We know that there are a lot of people in our family’s community who might not be so supportive, so I always encourage you to have a safe space to come out in. If you are feeling ready to come out, I think that the beautiful thing about coming out is being able to express yourself authentically to those around you.
- Gena: The biggest thing that I like to share with people when they come out is that usually, you’ve had a lot of time to process who you are and accept who you are, so try to give other people the time to process as well.
- Gena: I love that you set boundaries. That is beautiful and it’s the most amazing advice that you could give for sure. You have to protect your own energy and yourself because you’ve been going through so much already.
- Arielle: I think that so many of us in the process of coming out try to do it on other people’s timelines and try to please the people around us. But this is about nobody other than you so creating those boundaries, doing what feels best for you, and knowing that you don’t need to do the emotional labor of educating the people around you. There’s no one right way to come out.
Top Q&A Questions & Resources:
- Advice for not knowing your identity and discovering it?
- Arielle: I think for me I personally really struggled with knowing my exact identity and knowing how to label it. I think that for some people labels can be really empowering, and for others, they can be really disempowering and confusing. So what I recommend is not getting so caught up in the exact identity or the exact labels, unless it’s helpful for you. Follow what feels authentic and natural for you, and see how that goes.
- Arielle: I think for me I personally really struggled with knowing my exact identity and knowing how to label it. I think that for some people labels can be really empowering, and for others, they can be really disempowering and confusing. So what I recommend is not getting so caught up in the exact identity or the exact labels, unless it’s helpful for you. Follow what feels authentic and natural for you, and see how that goes.
- How did you and do you deal with family who’s not accepting and now won’t talk to you? How do you deal with the loss of friends, family, and other people that were in your life before you came out?
- Gena: I came out to my mom first in person. Her brother’s gay and she’s a hairdresser so she’s always around gay people, she was surprised but also supportive. I came out to my dad over the phone because I was scared and he hung up on me, and it did not go well. It took a while, but after a few months, he did meet my girlfriend. Now, he is loud and proud. He wears pride shirts all year long. Our relationship ebbed and flowed, but we each allowed each other to process, and I didn’t try to force anything on him.
Resources:
Gena’s links:
- Instagram: @genajaffe
- Connecting Rainbows
Arielle’s links:
- Transformational LGBTQ+ Group Coaching Program Unleashed
- Are you a business owner or entrepreneur looking to create LGBTQ+ safety and inclusion in your business? Sign up for The Inclusive Leader Masterclass here
- Website
- Instagram Accounts: @arielledangelo @wetherainbowofficial
- TikTok: @arielledangelo
- YouTube
Last modified on June 21, 2022
