National Coming Out Day

NCOD was founded in 1988 by Robert Eichberg, a psychologist from New Mexico and founder of the personal growth workshop, The Experience, and Jean O'Leary, an openly-gay political leader from Los Angeles and then head of the National Gay Rights Advocates. The date of October 11 was chosen because it was the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

Now that you have the quick two second history lesson, let us begin class. I honor every gay right, civil awareness day that G-d can create. It gives the misinformed a chance to educate themselves on things they don't know anything about. And sometimes, it works. But what is disheartening is that, majority of the gay community doesn't even know about gay history. Or think it is beneath them to know such history.

Get off Adam4Adam. Get off BGCLive. Get off ManHunt. Get off all the hookup sites that you claim are 'social networking sites'. That's what Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are for. Anyone who says hookup sites are anything but, are lying to themselves and others. Being gay means more than just going to the club every Friday and Saturday. Being gay means more than going to Black Gay Pride events to show off your body you have been working on everyday prior in hopes of giving laid.

Being gay means more.

People, gay and straight alike, have fought and died for the rights of homosexuals to become equal to their heterosexual counterparts. We have fought hard to repeal DADT. We have risked our lives to strip DOMA of its horrific standpoints. People have fought hard to bring HIV Awareness to kids today. And living a lie, living on the 'down low', living with a view of only being in a relationship just to have a steady sex fest, trivializes the death, memory and history of the LGBT community. No one says you have to back Gay Marriage but there is a distinct difference from saying 'I don't want to get married to someone of the same sex' and saying 'I think gay marriage is wrong.' If you don't want to elevate your relationship to domestic partnership/marriage, then don't. But don't think that everyone should share in your ignorant views.

So on this day, put aside your differences and just love yourself for who G-d made you to be. A big, ole homosexual. But just know that it is only up to YOU to add 'happy' to that description. Ken yehi ratzon: May it be G-d's will.