Straight Out of the Closet
The time had finally come. I was tired of hiding the truth from most of my friends and relatives. It was wearing on me to put on one face to some people, and another face to other people. I was exhausted from wearing a faint smile as the anti-LGBT comments were made without reservation, or, at best, ignoring those comments. I decided that I would no longer be silent. It was time for me to come out of the closet and be known to all for who I really am. How to announce this to everyone? Facebook, of course! So this is what I posted:
With the federal judge’s ruling that Pennsylvania’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional, I feel the time is right for me to come out of the closet. I am declaring to all that I am a self-avowed, practicing heterosexual. Yes, I am very happily married and am committed to a monogamous relationship with my wife.
I am coming out of the closet in that I am no longer going to hide the fact that I believe God loves lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people. The LGBT community has endured untold hardship for too long, from the Church of Christ and from the world at large. The faith I cherish is not mine alone. No one has any grounds on which to withhold the love of God and the call of God to discipleship from anyone, especially if they just happen to love someone else of the same gender.
I am in favor of marriage equality. I have seen some same-sex relationships in which the love shared is just as genuine as that of any heterosexual couple. There is no good reason to prohibit gay and lesbian couples from being able to declare to God and to the world that they love each other. Marriage is not, and has not been for a long time, solely for the purpose of procreation. God wants committed marriages, whether gay or straight.
So here I am, out of the closet. You will hear me speak forcefully and favorably on behalf of my LGBT friends, and even those whom I do not know personally. The world is big enough for all of us, and we do a disservice when we draw a small circle around ourselves and proclaim that anyone outside of that circle is doomed to hell, or unworthy of God’s love. Let us stand together in the big circle of faith, whether gay or straight.
Some people may be surprised that I have to make this declaration. However, as I look across the varied avenues of my life, I am confronted by the fact that there have been too many times when I have kept silent in the face of prejudice and did not speak out against misconceptions and downright mean-spiritedness of the LGBT community. I am not an L, a G, a B, or a T. I am an A—ally. As an ally, I must be clear to all my family, my friends, and my neighbors that I am that ally to the LGBT community. I am going to be an unapologetic advocate on their behalf.
The response to my “coming out” was quite underwhelming. My post resulted in ten “likes” and four comments, all positive. Surprisingly, no one “unfriended” me. So there it is, for all to see. I am straight out of the closet. I will never let an anti-gay comment go unchallenged again. I will not let anyone with whom I associate think that I agree with their homophobic comments.
I had never previously thought about being a straight man coming out of the closet. Straights do not come out, only gays. But in essence, that is what transpired. No, it does not hold a candle to the real coming out that the LGBTs of the world struggle to achieve. I cannot imagine living every moment of every day hiding the truth of who I truly am. I have been spared that battle. In the hopes that I can minimize the effort of others in living authentic lives, I needed to come out as an unabashed ally!
Since that Facebook post was made a month ago, I have come to appreciate the positive influence that my LGBT friends have had upon my life, along with other straights who have been out of the closet themselves. It’s great to live an authentic life! It’s great to finally be straight out of the closet!