In Common

One time at Fantasia Fair in Provincetown MA on Cape Cod at the B&B we were staying at there was a group of lesbians staying there for the last weekend of Women’s Week. In the late afternoon we were in the common room where the wine and cheese was out, one side were the lesbians guests and on the other side of the room were the trans guests, we had nothing in common… or did we?

Somehow the conversions turned to coming of stories and all of sudden we had something in common and friendships started to develop.

BARRY MANILOW GETS EMOTIONAL TALKING FAN SUPPORT SINCE COMING OUT
qnews.au
By Jordan Hirst
April 22, 2017

Barry Manilow has said that the outpouring of love and support he’s gotten from fans since coming out as gay has been “thrilling”.

The entertainer publicly acknowledged his sexuality for the first time earlier this month, and he got choked up when talking about his fans in an interview on US talk show Today.

“You should walk down the street with me one day. These strangers say the most beautiful things to me,” Barry said.

“They thank me for helping them through their lives. The impact I’ve had on people… I’m sorry, I’m going to cry. It’s thrilling.”

And Mr. Manilow isn’t the only celebrity to come out,

Fox News’ Shepard Smith On Coming Out: “I Didn’t Think I Was In”
“I go home to the man I’m in love with,” the Fox News anchor says.
New Next Now
By Dan Avery
May 7, 2017

Shepard Smith opened up a bit about his sexuality in a recent talk at the University of Mississippi’s Meek School of Journalism and New Media. Smith, an Ole Miss alum, was attending “It Starts With MEek,” a conference promoting diversity and inclusivity at the school.

Though he left before graduating, Smith credits UM with teaching him important lessons about journalism. But, he confessed, he threw himself into his work to avoid dealing with his private life—rarely spending a night at home for a year at a time.

He goes on to share what is common to all of us who thought about coming out,

“A. You’re going to hell for it,” he said, listing why he avoided acknowledging his sexuality. “B. You’ll never have any friends again. C. What are you going to tell your family?”

I think we all thought this when we were contemplating coming out. Many of us had vision of losing our family, friends, and losing our jobs. And he also had the fact that he worked at Fox.

“And by the way, you’re on television on the craziest conservative network on Earth,” he joked. “That will probably put you in front of a brick wall. Of course none of that was true, but that’s how it felt.”

Whether you are lesbian, gay, bi, queer, or trans we have to come out and with it we share a common fear of the unknown.

For us we have to come out if we are going to transition, family and friends tend to notice little things like showing up at a summer event in a sun dress. While lesbians, gays, bi, and queers don’t have to come, they just a friend with them.