Please answer all questions 

Coming Out Story:

Imagine you’re a little boy and you’re hanging out with that Number 1 person on your list.  You’re watching cartoons and you say that you love Batman. Your number 1 person asks you what you mean by that. You try to explain that you are really in love with Batman. Then your friend calls you a fag and tells you he can’t hang out with you anymore. Mark that person off your list.

Fast forward to high school. Your feelings of attraction to people of the same sex haven’t gone away, and you’ve started to explore them secretly in relationships. You think, “It’s the 21st century, my family loves me, I should be myself.” You decide to tell one of your closest family members that you are dating someone, and that you are gay. They tell you that you’re going through a phase and say to you to break up with that person. You say it’s not a phase, and they refuse to talk to you any longer. You worry you might even have to leave home. Cross Category #2 off your list.

A little further down the road, you’re in college now and life has gotten a little better. You’ve found a community of people to hang out with who support and care for you. They accept you for who you are. One day, you see a sign for a student organization meeting for that Category #3 thing on your list. You decide to check it out and go to a meeting. Afterwards, the president comes up to you and introduces himself. You start talking and he asks if he saw you in the gay pride parade on campus recently. You say yes and excitedly describe the event that you were involved with. He tells you that he respects your right to do what you want, but that members of the groupwouldn’t feel comfortable around you. He asks you not to come back. Mark Category #3 off your list.

After you leave the meeting, you come back to your room to find that “Die Fag!” has been written on your door and your room has been broken into. That Category #4 thing has been destroyed. Mark Category #4 off your list.

Finally, later in life, you’ve managed to get your ideal job and life is good. You’re at work one day and have a picture of your partner and your child on your desk. Your boss walks by and asks about them. You tell them who they are and she says great and goes on her way. The next morning, you get called to a meeting where your boss tells you that the company is downsizing and they’ll have to let you go. Mark Category #5 off your list. 

This story is not meant to be a picture of every LGBTQ+ peron’s story, or even most LGBTQ+ people’s story. This is a particularly tragic coming out
story, but it is not overly dramatic. These things do happen to people and it’s important for us to recognize that they happen.

Step #4:  Respond to the following Prompts/Questions:

Debrief questions
1.  What was this activity like?
2.  How did this activity make you feel?
3.  What are your big takeaways from this activity?