Does National Coming Out Day Still Matter?

 

Short Answer: More then ever!

Long Answer: On October 11, the LGBT community and its many supporters will celebrate National Coming

Out Day (NCOD), a civil awareness day that celebrates individuals who publically identify as a

gender or sexual minority. The first NCOD back in 1988 was observed only in 18 states, this

year it will be all observed by all 50 states of the United States, plus Australia, Canada, Croatia,

Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the

United States and around the world, the LGBT community has gained victories and

achievements in the promotion and protection of civil rights and freedoms. With all this progress

at home and abroad, we pose the question, does National Coming Out Day still matter?

And the answer is that it does, and just as much now as it did on its first observance. The LGBT

community has gained much recognition and support, but there are many problems and issues

still faced in the United States and other countries. Yes, the LGBT community has been

victorious in many instances but there is still so much progress to be made in many aspects of

society. There are many individuals in the world who still suffer repercussions for their sexual

and gender identity and until that stops .. supporting young men and women coming to terms with their sexuality matters!

In August of 2014, a 16 year old Colombian gay teen committed suicide after enduring sexual

harassment accusations when his gym teacher found a picture of him kissing his boyfriend on his

phone. He was forced to visit the school psychologist and suspended. The school refused to

release his academic results and blocked his transfer to another school. The teen shortly

thereafter committed suicide by jumping from a shopping center. Jadin Bell, a 15 year old gay

youth from Oregon, committed suicide in 2013 after being bullied in person and over the internet

for his identification as gay. Both of these individuals lived in a country where homosexuality in

not criminalized, yet still were ostracized for their sexual identification.

Much progress has been made in several countries, in 2013 Uruguay and New Zealand granted

same sex marriage. In 2015, Luxembourg will become the 17th country to grant same sex

marriages. But we have seen regression in several places around the world. In 2014, Uganda

passed a law which penalized same sex relations with life in prison, the original draft of the law

asked for the death penalty. The law included extradition for Ugandan nationals who were in

same sex relations abroad so they could face their punishment in the African country. It also

included penalties for those who knew or supported members of the LGBT community. The law

was made invalid by the Constitutional Court of Uganda in August of 2014. 38 African countries

still criminalize homosexuality. In 2013, Russia passed its LGBT Propaganda Law, which made

it a criminal offense to distribute propaganda that supports what it defines as “non-traditional

sexual relationships” to minors. In both of these countries, there was increase in violence against

the LGBT community, as these laws were cited as justifications for the incidents. A

documentary, Hunted, by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, expressed how young gay men in

Russia were experiencing a “new wave of terror”. Even in countries were progress has been made, there are still subtle and not so subtle indications of discomfort on the identification of gender and sexual minorities.

In September of 2014, Chile’s La Polar clothing store release an advert which showed same sex couples displaying

affection through hand holding and kissing, the video was quickly removed and replaced by a

more toned down version. Francesc Morales created a parody of the video with the help of other

artists; the video’s main message is that being gay is not a fashion. Soon after La Polar placed

the original video online, but not before many discouraging comments were made on Morales’s

video post. Comments included that it is irresponsible to place videos of same sex couples

kissing that children can see. Some of the worst comments incited the death of all homosexuals.

The LGBT community still faces other issues beyond the opposition to identification and

criminalization. In the United States, a lot of progress has been made at the state and city

government level to legalize same sex marriages and prevent discrimination against the LGBT

community. But the LGBT youth is still at risk and prone to more challenges. One problem that

LGBT youth face is homelessness in instances where they are rejected by their family and

community, a case that is very common among religiously conservative homes and communities.

LGBT youth make up 40 percent of the homeless youth population in the United States,

according to research by San Francisco State University’s Family Acceptance Project. While the

Center for American Progress places the number of homeless LGBT youth between 320,000 and

400,000 in the United States. Another problem faced by LBGT youth is the lack of access to

competent and sensitive care for those who identify as transgender. In August of 2014, Riley

Mascatel from Philadelphia committed suicide by jumping in front of an Amtrak train. Riley was

a transgender individual who never was comfortable in his body. The National Gay and Lesbian

Task Force and National Center for Transgender Equality state that 41 percent of their

respondents have attempted suicide.

On October 11, the LGBT community will celebrate National Coming Out Day, a day of

observation of the determination by individuals to live out publicly their sexual and gender

identification. The day should observe the decision of individuals to embrace their sexual and

gender identification, but it also should lend attention to the challenges and repercussions that too many

individuals still face for their identification.  The LGBT community has made several achievements. But there is much progress to be made, and National Coming Out Day can be a focus on the great work to be done.

That’s what we think anyway ..  Ace Male Models | Miami, FL | USA