Happy National Coming Out Day from all of us at Plume! It’s never too late—or too early!—to come out, claim your space, and begin living as your authentic self. Those of us who have made the leap are here to catch you when it’s your time. Whether you’re coming out today, to yourself, to your loved ones, or the whole world, you are part of a vibrant community of people who have so much in common with you! We’re here, we see you, and we saved you a seat.
Transcript:
Alex (any pronouns): Coming out day is amazing.
Morgan (they/them): I would say that coming out can feel really scary in the moment for just about everybody. I know that it’s really relieving to see other people make it look easy, and I try to do that as much as I can, but the truth is, it can be really scary not knowing how the people around you are going to react because there’s just no telling. And I would say just knowing that there’s a lot of support out there, and once you find that support, once you use it, it’s just uplifting and reassuring to know that there’s people out there that see you for who you are and make it seem easy.
Dylan (they/she): I had come out to people who I like, trusted, like a couple of friends sort of like creating a circle of support before coming out to family, which was really great because, you know, you sort of get to microdose coming out, which helps, you know, because if something goes poorly in the future, when you come out, you at least have these people that you can really rely on.
Mya (she/they): I found that internal courage to come out and tell my parents. Mainly because I, as silly as it is, I had a copy of Love Simon. I would watch it repetitively because it was the only piece of seemingly queer media that I’ve ever experienced. And in that, it goes so well. So I, I thought it could be the same if I approached it properly.
Alex (any pronouns): You know, I thought I was a mistake and I thought God made a mistake. And, you know, I spent a lot of time praying as a kid. And, you know, I ain’t a mistake. None of us are.
Mare (they/them): I guess a piece of advice I would give to someone who is starting out on their gender journey is the advice that really set me on my path to chase that feeling of, like, joy.
Gem (they/them): Find the people who value you, who make you feel good about yourself, and who don’t hold you back.
Papo (they/them): I will tell them to to go for it that they’re not going to regret it. Living their authentic self can be scary, but it’s very, very rewarding and liberating.
Elle (she/her): I would say do it, come out, be you, love who you are and then you know, nobody else will until you do like you know, until you know yourself. Until you set tone of who you are, then that’s when it will be like, okay, you can argue with me up and down about who I am, but I know who I am and it’s going to be like, okay, she knows who she is or they are, or he is like, you know, and it’s going to be beautiful. And I would love to see the journey.
Donna (she/her): Hold your shoulders back and look out at as many people as you can and know in your mind that the world’s gonna be better now that you’re in in the light and even hold your arms out and say, I’m here and you and the world is going to be better for it. I would encourage you to do that and have every confidence because you know what? We want you to come out. We love you and we want you to know that. So that’s what I would say. Don’t be afraid to do it. That would be my statement.
