On National Coming Out Day, Don't Disparage the Closet
The AtlanticArticle by: Preston Mitchum
Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/10/on-national-coming-out-day-dont-disparage-the-closet/280469/
This article begins by saying that the author himself came out via Facebook. It then goes on to explain how coming out has pros and cons and how no one should feel pressured to "come out" of the closet. Mitchum explains how "coming out" may result in discrimination in the workplace, media, and home. He explains all the deaths due to "coming out" and how this can be an unsafe thing to do if the person is in a very incepting environment. Mitchum says that he never felt this while coming out, and does not regret it at all, there are many other stories like his and that there is a lot of hope for people that are "coming out" to have positive experiences that lead into further discovering who the individual is.
This article was very confusing to me, the purpose was to say that overemphasizing "coming out" could have negative effects, but the author never gave a remedy to fix the negative effects, like counseling or calling child protective services or something. He also forgot to recognize the strangeness of this whole event. We now have a day dedicated toward people coming out in a culture that doesn't accept people that come out. The same government that won't let these people get married is the government that is dedicating a day toward these people getting their hopes up at equal rights, and then just having them shot down again. The problem with this whole problem is that it should not exist. People shouldn't have to come out, there should be nothing to come out. You should be born and then you figure out you like people around puberty and whoever you like should be fine with the world. In kindergarden the teacher told you to mind your own business, why does this rule expire with age? There is no gay marriage there is just marriage. There are no gay rights, just human rights, why is this so hard for some people to understand?
Sam Smathers 4th period
I think that all people should be treated the same. Regardless of their race or sex or whether they are gay or strait. I think it is sad that people who are gay have to be so scared to "come out". It must be very scary for them. I am glad that the man this article is about did not have any negative experiences.
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out that the government is making a day for coming out but also suppresses those peoples rights and how thats totally backwards. But is the government responsible for things celebrated on specific days? Is that who organizes all the random things like national hug day?
ReplyDeleteByron Otis
ReplyDeleteTo Jack McKay: A lot of days aren't actually sponsored by the government. There is an abundance of really weird obscure holidays that someone made up once and no one every practices. So, I'm pretty sure that the government didn't make a day for coming out. That would be way too radical for the government to take a stance on. This day was probably decided by GLAAD or something