{"id":599,"date":"2021-10-04T11:12:13","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T10:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/kaleidoscope\/?p=599"},"modified":"2021-10-07T14:24:53","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T13:24:53","slug":"national-coming-out-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/kaleidoscope\/2021\/10\/04\/national-coming-out-day\/","title":{"rendered":"National Coming Out Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Megan Robertson, Kaleidoscope member and guest blogger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

National Coming Out Day is an annual awareness day where the LGBTQIA+ community can celebrate coming out. I\u2019ve always found coming out a strange topic because for many in the LGBTQIA+ community we have to \u2018come out\u2019 most days. An example of this is starting a new job. When you start a new job you are meeting new people, and if these people aren\u2019t open themselves about their sexuality or gender, you then have to judge what their reaction is going to be. The same with any time you meet someone new (unless it's in an LGBTQIA+ safe space). Gender and sexuality are fluid, and often we actually may feel like we fit with something different to what we originally thought. Coming out is scary, and it\u2019s something that I wish we didn\u2019t have to do. I always say when I have kids, I want to give them a space to be whoever they want to be, to be in love (or not in love) with whoever they like.<\/p>\n

The first person I came out to were my friends, and this is because they were also queer, and I knew that if I told them I think I might be bisexual, they would be excited, which they were and ended up going for drinks and celebrating. I didn\u2019t come out to my family for another 3 years, mainly because I wasn\u2019t 100% sure if I was bi and I was also so scared about what they were going to say. I actually texted my dad, the night after I event managed and helped plan Bath Spa University\u2019s Pride saying, \u2018by the way I\u2019m bisexual' and his response was \u2018that\u2019s cool mate, as long as you\u2019re happy\u2019. After getting this response I knew I was safe to speak to the rest of my family. The best coming out story was after I told my nan, whose response was \u2018oooo Meg you swing both ways darling\u2019, there\u2019s me shaking and almost close to tears, and then she says that!<\/p>\n

I know this story comes with privilege, and I am so lucky that all members of my family and friends have accepted me and accepted my wonderful girlfriend too. This isn\u2019t the case for some members of our community. This is why days like this are so important because we want to spread awareness of how scary it can be, how important it is to our community, and how much time and headspace someone goes through to figure out who they are. So I have a couple of tips\u2026<\/p>\n

If someone comes out to you, or they want to talk to you about their sexuality or gender:<\/p>\n