Come out, come out...

I forgot to post football picks last week. I’ll try to get them up tomorrow. For what it’s worth, I was terrible last week.

Not today. Today it’s another topic altogether.

Today, 10/11/2010 is National Coming Out Day. You can find more info on the Human Rights Campaign’s website.

It is, of course, a day for LGBT people to come out to their loved ones, but it is also a day for the rest of us to come out in favor of equality for the LGBT community. I wouldn’t say I’m exactly coming out. I’ve been out in my support for quite a while. I did want to take a few words to reaffirm my support of equality.

A few weeks ago the family was eating dinner at home. Someone for some reason said the word ‘gay.’ My 9 year-old daughter cringed and said, “Eww!”

“What’s wrong,” I asked.

“That word is icky!”

“What word?”

She whispered, “Gay.”

I was appalled. It took me aback. It took me a moment to respond as I processed this information. We have tried to teach our kids to be loving and accepting of everyone. In that brief moment I realized we are not the only influence in her life. We have never talked openly about the subject. So the only influence she’s had in regards to gay people is… well, not us.

Finally I came to my senses and spoke. I asked her why the word was icky. She wouldn’t answer. Then I explained that being gay is not icky. I also told her that we know a few gay people. After I told her that I could see her expression and her perception change. Once she realized that she knew people who are gay, and that they are not in fact icky, she became more accepting and understanding.

The same could be said for me. I’ve told the story before, so I will be brief.

In years past I was in the “All gays are going to hell” camp. I thought it was wrong. I thought it was…well, icky. As time went by I began to soften. Then in a conversation with one of my best friends, he told me he was gay. I was surprised, but not shocked. I won’t say that this was the point where I turned 180º and changed my mind. I had turned at least 95º at that point. Otherwise I’m not sure I would’ve handled it the way I did. But from that point on I was an ardent supporter of what the ‘vast right wing conspiracy’ would call: The Gay Agenda.

I won’t go into specifics, I’ll just share the status messages available from the HRC site: Scott Coats is a straight ally and today is National Coming Out Day. I'm coming out for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality because

· It's 2010 and almost 90% of LGBT youth experience harassment in school, and too many lives have been lost.

· It's 2010 and you can still be fired from your job in 29 states for being lesbian, gay or bisexual and in 38 states for being transgender.

· It's 2010 and only five states plus DC recognize that love, not gender, is what matters in a marriage.

· It's 2010 and more than 14,000 service members have been discharged from the military under the failed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law.

· It's 2010 and the government's failure to recognize LGBT families for immigration purposes tears bi-national couples and families apart.

To me, the first one is the most troubling. I’ve seen at least 5-6 stories of gay teenagers who committed suicide because of bullying. It should never happen.

I hope you’ll come out, too. Come out in support of equality.