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Today marks the 33rd official National Coming Out Day, a day many in the LGBTQ+ community see as an important time of recognition. Coming out can be both fantastic and…complicated, and sometimes even both. Either way, no matter how, when, or whether you choose to come out, we'll be celebrating National Coming Out Day by showing our love to each and every member of the community, whether you’re in or out of the closet.
When is national coming out day 2021?
National Coming Out Day is on Monday, October 11th, 2021, and commemorates the 1987 Gay National March Washington DC. Over 50,000 participants joined the march, many of whom publicly came out as LGBTQ+ for the first time. Thirty-three years later, we're still celebrating the act of 'coming out' both online and in-person.
Why is national coming out day so important?
Coming out is a term to describe the act of an LGBT person disclosing their identity. Coming out can be scary, especially when a queer person isn't entirely sure how the person they are sharing their identity with will react to the information. National Coming Out Day commemorates the bravery and pride members of the LGBT community have faced when accepting their true selves. But, more importantly, National Coming Out day also marks the pride that comes with acknowledging and accepting your authentic self (aka coming out to yourself).
Do you have to come out on national coming out day?
While coming out is often an integral part of the LGBT experience, it doesn't necessarily mean someone has to come out to feel part of the community. While National Coming Out Day is a celebration, it is also a day to recognise the severe consequences closeted queer people may face if/when they do come out. Whether or not you decide to publicise your queer identity, remember that you are just as much of a valued member as those who have been able to come out publicly.
Unity is the key focus for National Coming Out Day, especially between those who are out and proud and those who are celebrating in secret. As a community with a colourful collection of shared and differing identities, it is vital to support loved ones regardless of what stage they are, in their coming out process.
Although coming out can feel like a never-ending task for LGBT people, we wanted to create a system that allowed folks to come out without needing to say a word. When creating RCREW, our goal was to enhance the sense of community by encouraging those to show their pride, whether it’s done subtly or loudly. Because, no matter how you decide to come out, even choosing to do it silently can still be just as powerful.
However, while we are proud to offer a range of signalling bracelets for different identities, we also understand that sometimes showing your true colours isn't always practical. So, we created the Plain and Simple bracelet for those who cannot come out or are still exploring their queer identity. Our Plain and Simple Bracelets are our way of including those who are still on their self-discovery journey or are waiting for a safe time to come out.
We're still adding to our collection, but to view our most current selection, click here, and click here for our Plain and Simple bracelets.
For a few hours every summer, the guesswork stops. You can look around and simply know. This is what Pride does that nothing else does. The question worth asking is what happens when it ends.
You and your people are in the same spaces every day. The same supermarkets, the same offices, the same commutes. The problem was never finding each other. It was knowing each other. And that is a different problem entirely.
"Every gay person must come out," Harvey Milk said in 1978. He believed visibility would destroy myths and change the world.
He was right. Nearly 50 years later, coming out looks different. It's not always a speech or a grand announcement. Sometimes visibility is as quiet as wearing a bracelet.
