Happy Pride! And, welcome to LQC Dallas’ first bulletin post.
Pride month this year carries a somber mood for many LGBTQ communities throughout the United States, as we are urged to ‘hide’ away to protect our own and others’ safety. For many healthcare, retail, food, and service workers, sheltering in place is not an option. Many communities, such as, Black, Asian, Latinx, Undocumented workers, Differently-Abled, and LGBTQ folks receive the systemic effects spurred on by COVID-19.
That being said, we can maintain a presence in our digital spaces, as LQC intends to do. All month long, we will be publishing Coming Out Stories; Coming Out is a recurring theme we’ll continually revisit on the bulletin, and an important symbol of claiming space for LGBTQ people. A call for submissions will be coming soon!
Before a short review of Coming Out and its origins, it’s important to note that there’s no single Coming Out story. Our LGBTQ community spans far and wide in their experiences. Some people come out every day—some not at all. Some don’t come out for their safety; careful consideration must be taken with the circumstances of financial dependence, while living with homophobic and/or transphobic family, or while receiving public services or services from a non-profit. Putting your health and safety first is always the best move to make, and seeking advice from licensed counselors can help to ensure safety. No one person’s story constitutes the absolute and final method and narrative of Coming Out. There’s much variation to stories, and that’s what we hope to showcase in highlighting your stories this month and in the future. Thank you in advance for opening up about the important moments in your life.
As for Coming Out and its history, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs is one of the pioneering figures who urged people to self-identify as a means of emancipation. He is cited as the first person to come out (as we know it), and created language to conceptualize homosexuality as a part of modern society. “Coming Out” refers to the debutante balls held by affluent people to mark the coming of age and candidacy for marriage of an upper-class woman. During the 1930’s and 40’s, the terms was used among Gay men and Drag Queens in North Eastern Urban US Cities like Baltimore and New York City. During the Post-War era, homosexuality became associated with communism and subversive activity; many did not reveal their homosexual activities and identities during this time. During the pre-gay rights and liberation movements, the Homophile Movement, consisting of the upper-class Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis in San Francisco appropriated the term to be used in the company of other Gay people. The term came into more popular use during the 1970’s, proceeding the Stonewall Riots.
During a march on the one-year-anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City, Michael Brown, founder of Gay Liberation Front declared that, “…we’ll never have the freedom and civil rights we deserve as human beings unless we stop hiding in closets and in the shelter of anonymity…We have to come out into the open and stop being ashamed…” Ultimately, their activist efforts contributed to more visibility and the objection of a quiet, polite approach seen by their predecessors in the Homophile Movement. ACT UP (A.I.D.S. Coalition to Unleash Power) and Queer Nation were other groups that provoked in-your-face tactics in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s to bring about more visibility to discrimination and phobia. There slogans, “out of the closets and into the streets,” and “we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!” still hold a legacy in US LGBTQ communities. Harvey Milk, openly-Gay politician who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, urged people to “come out, come out, wherever you are” during his Courage Campaign to raise more awareness around gay discrimination, and explicitly to stop job discrimination of gay teachers in California. His approach to rights differed from ACT UP and Queer Nation’s tactics for liberation, but they can agree on the importance of visibility and pride. Other movements, like the Undocumented Youth Justice League have adopted Coming Out as a tactic of visibility and permanence, whether the US government institutions like it or not.
Coming Out can signify taking ownership of identity, citizenship status, health status, who you love, how you express gender, and how you move throughout the world. In my own personal experience, Coming Out has provided solidarity and visibility for connecting with other queer folks, which is one of the intentions of these movements. LQC hopes to share your story to learn about our community, foster connection and let you know that you’re not alone.
This history is a rather 'broad-strokes' version. Many people of color and differently-abled people have contributed that are not featured here. You can find more extensive and detailed histories of Coming Out in The Gay Metropolis by Charles Kaiser, Gay New York by George Chauncey, and Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are by Abigail C. Saguy.
As LGBTQ people with a long history of fighting for liberation and rights, we stand with the protestors of police brutality behind the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Atatiana Jefferson, and so many more across the US, UK, and Canada. The protests occurring presently are especially relevant to our home community, as Dallas and Texas in general are cited as the most dangerous places for Transgender people in the US. Dallas alone was responsible for the deaths of Muhlaysia Booker, Chynal Lindsey, and an unnamed Latina Transgender woman in 2019.
Black and Latinx Transgender women have been long-time leaders of many LGBTQ+ movements, two of which, Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, were present and led efforts at the Stonewall Riots in 1969. Preceding the Stonewall Riots was the San Francisco Compton Cafeteria Riots in 1966, led by Transgender women, Transgender women of color, and/or sex workers.
LGBTQ history is interwoven with the Civil Rights Movements and Black Liberation movements. We cannot and will not disentangle our histories. For many in our community, their Blackness cannot be separated from their Queerness. We see you, we hear you, and we support you as vital members of LQC Dallas. Black lives and experiences enrich our understanding of wide-scale systemic oppression. In sum, LQC Dallas believes and stands behind Black Lives Matter. If you want to be an ally, this article and this one are great starting points.
Lastly, during Pride Month, please consider purchasing any Pride goods from local and/or queer artists! If you’re an artist, and want your work, commissions, or shop advertised, please email us at LQCDallas@gmail.com.