Many people in the LGBTQ+ community feel that they are viewed differently because of their sexuality.
“I am genderfluid and gay,” said Jayden, a Woodside High School Student.
She came out around a year ago, and she feels like she made the right choice.
“A bunch of my family is part of the community, and a lot of my family is so pro-everything that if I did have an issue coming out, my family wouldn’t have too many problems with it,” Jayden explained.
She thought that her family would treat her differently if they knew, but they were pretty accepting. Some of her family wasn’t so accepting.
“My grandmother on my mother’s side is super religious, and she told me that I was a sin and that I was going to go to hell, and she doesn’t talk to me anymore,” Jayden recounted.
Even though Jayden came out, some people are scared to come out. They feel like they will be viewed differently.
“There’s no need to stand out for being part of the community,” Jayden said. “It’s not like this big special thing.”
Our community doesn’t support the LGBTQ+ community as much as they should. We shouldn’t make them feel like they can’t tell people about it.
“For his parents, they are really religion-based, so he still hasn’t come out to them because he is afraid to get rejected by his parents,” another Woodside High School student said, describing a friend’s situation.
The leader of Woodside’s Gay Straight Alliance holds a rainbow flag behind them, duct tape over their mouth to signify hate speech.
This is just another example of a story where someone was afraid to come out because they were afraid that they would be rejected or viewed differently.
We need to accept them for who they are, not for who we want them to be.
