{"id":5624,"date":"2013-10-11T09:02:25","date_gmt":"2013-10-11T13:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=5624"},"modified":"2020-05-07T20:55:36","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T00:55:36","slug":"national-coming-out-day-coming-out-still-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=5624","title":{"rendered":"National Coming Out Day &#8211; Coming Out Still Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/3ov9jHMoYUPQwdTd4Y\" width=\"480\" height=\"321\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Today marks <strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Natio<\/span><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\">nal<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ffff00;\">Com<\/span><span style=\"color: #339966;\">ing<\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">Out<\/span> <span style=\"color: #993366;\">Day<\/span><\/strong>, an\u00a0annually observed day to celebrate individuals coming out\u00a0who publicly identify as bisexual, gay, lesbian, or transgender. This year&#8217;s theme is\u00a0Coming Out Still Matters. And it does matter.<\/p>\n<p>We still have a fight waging over gay marriage in this country. We still have children committing suicide because of their sexuality. Nothing will can cure these ills unless we become visible. This visibility, though, begins with the individual.<\/p>\n<p>Coming out whether at work or at home is a personal decision. You shouldn&#8217;t put a timetable on yourself, do it as your own speed, but here&#8217;s a few resources that can help.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Books to Read About Coming Out<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #8a2be2;\"><strong>Teen Perspective<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=5321\">37 Things I Love (in no particular order)<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Kekla Magoon<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Permalink to Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair\" href=\"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=33\" rel=\"bookmark\">Coffee Will Make You Black <\/a>\u2013\u00a0April Sinclair<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Permalink to The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson\" href=\"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=21\" rel=\"bookmark\">The House You Pass on the Way <\/a>\u2013\u00a0Jacqueline Woodson<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Permalink to M+O 4EVR by Tonya Hegamin (Aug. 2010 Pick of the Month)\" href=\"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=1700\" rel=\"bookmark\">M+O 4EVR\u00a0<\/a>\u2013\u00a0Tonya Hegamin<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Permalink to Truth Disguised by Quandi\" href=\"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=1082\" rel=\"bookmark\">Truth Disguised\u00a0<\/a>\u2013\u00a0Quandi<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #8a2be2;\">Adult Perspective<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=34\">Am I My Sister\u2019s Keeper?<\/a>\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0S. Stephens<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Permalink to Considering Venus by D. Gisele Isaac\" href=\"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=10\" rel=\"bookmark\">Considering Venus\u00a0<\/a>\u2013\u00a0D. Gisele Isaac<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=1685\">Deepest Desire<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Anne Shade<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Permalink to Double Pleasure Double Pain by Nikki Rashan\" href=\"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=8\" rel=\"bookmark\">Double Pleasure Double Pain<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Nikki Rashan<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=164\">I Am Your Sist<strong>er<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Ericka K. F. Simpson<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Permalink to SBF Seeking by La Toya Hankins (June 2012 Pick of the Month)\" href=\"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=2462\" rel=\"bookmark\">SBF Seeking<\/a> \u2013\u00a0La Toya Hankins<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Online Resources<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.comingoutblack.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Coming Out Black<\/a>\u00a0is website celebrating and empowering same gender loving, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people of African descent. It has a blog, a Wall of Pride, podcasts, and list of well-known African Americans who&#8217;ve come out<\/li>\n<li>The Human Rights Campaign has many articles concerning sexuality and coming out. Read its <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hrc.org\/files\/assets\/resources\/comingout_africanamericans_042013.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Resource Guide to Coming Out for African Americans<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rucomingout.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">R U Coming Out<\/a> inspires, supports and unites those who are living their lives either completely, or partially in the closet.\u00a0 The main focus of this website is the stories.\u00a0 People from all over the world write and submit their own personal accounts of Coming Out.<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rucomingout.com\/\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Celebrities Speak About Coming Out<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #9400d3;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/comingoutcelebs1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7172 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/comingoutcelebs1-300x149.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"523\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/comingoutcelebs1-300x149.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/comingoutcelebs1.jpg 448w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 523px) 100vw, 523px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #9400d3;\">Michelle Rodriguez<\/span>:<\/strong> \u00a0&#8220;I&#8217;ve gone both ways. I do as I please. I am too fucking curious to sit here and not try what I can. Men are intriguing. So are chicks.&#8221; (<a href=\"http:\/\/insidemovies.ew.com\/2013\/10\/01\/michelle-rodriguez-talks-movies-sex\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Entertainment Weekly<\/a>, <strong>Oct. 1, 2013<\/strong>)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #9400d3;\"><strong>Raven-Symone:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>&#8220;I am very happy that gay marriage is opening up around the country and is being accepted. I was excited to hear today that more states legalized gay marriage. I, however am not currently getting married, but it is great to know I can now, should I wish to.&#8221; (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/445392\/raven-symone-s-gay-marriage-tweet-explained-star-not-getting-married-but-it-s-great-to-know-i-can-now\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EOnline<\/a>, <strong>Aug. 2, 2013<\/strong>)<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #9400d3;\">Brittney Griner:<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0&#8220;My parents didn&#8217;t know at the time,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I hadn&#8217;t come out completely. It was kind of like, YOU KNOW\u2026I just hadn&#8217;t said it. My dad and my mom have always told me &#8216;be who you are.&#8217; At the time (chuckling), they probably weren&#8217;t sure what I was interpreting that as.&#8221; (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/wnba\/mercury\/2013\/04\/16\/draft-day-wnbas-brittney-griner-ready-to-evoke-change-take-on-nba\/2087021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USA Today<\/a><strong>,\u00a0April 18, 2013<\/strong>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today marks National Coming Out Day, an\u00a0annually observed day to celebrate individuals coming out\u00a0who publicly identify as bisexual, gay, lesbian, or transgender. This year&#8217;s theme is\u00a0Coming Out Still Matters. And it does matter. We still have a fight waging over gay marriage in this country. We still have children committing suicide because of their sexuality. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[339,396],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5624"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7173,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5624\/revisions\/7173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}