By Anonymous
I’m often told that LGBT+ people are overdramatic, that they need to stop complaining, that they have it easy and they just want attention. I was always baffled at how people could say that, how this was treated as an obscure fashion trend, scorned and despised. The conclusion I got from my experience at school as an LGBT+ person was this; I was nothing more than a joke.
I came out when I was 12 years old, on a chilly October day. My parents had been arguing that morning and the doubt had begun to creep into my gut, infesting my soul. Could I really do it? Was I ready to open up to them about this part of me I had suppressed and denied for so long? The questions were racing through my mind right up until that dreaded lunch time. Sitting there in frosty silence, I stared at my food trying to find the courage, trying to find the comforting voice inside my head that would tell me that nothing was wrong with me. I broke the silence with a simple, light-hearted question; “Hey, did you know that today is international coming out day?”. I then proceeded to burst into tears. Needless to say, despite the initial dread and guilt and panic I ended up having a good response from my parents, who support me still to this day, my mother even coming to Pride with me every year.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for a lot of people. Many of my friends are forced to choose between being open about who they are and their families; families who would disown them in the blink of an eye if they were to find out. They are trapped, wedged between two worlds, unable to find peace, living life as a lie, unhappy.
Even outside of the family situation, the pressures from society (Work, School, Social gatherings) are immense. Personally, being open about myself at school was far worse than having to tell my parents. With homophobic slurs tossed around as everyday classroom talk, the anonymous harassing messages and phone calls and the degrading, personal comments whispered past lockers and library shelves, it’s no wonder that so many young LGBT+ kids live in fear and denial.
So I ask you this LGB, is it all just a joke? Is it wanting attention? Because to me, and to these kids, who are told by their parents and their peers and the world around them that something is wrong with them, that they are nothing more than a locker room insult, the last thing it is is funny.
