HoDC: Humans of Davidson College is a series started by HerCampus Davidson to profile members of the community and learn more about their stories.
Our National Coming Out Day Series highlights the significance of National Coming Out Day to the LGBTQ+ members of the Davidson community.
“National Coming Out Day is about embracing coming out with anyone who is close to you- your friends, family, loved ones. This year was really important for me because I came out to my parents this year. It was nerve-wracking, but it happened. I think National Coming Out Day makes the public aware of how important it is to embrace your sexuality. Coming out to my parents was good and nerve-wracking. Yes, a burden was lifted off of me. I finally said, ‘Mom, Dad. I’m gay,’ so that was relaxing, but now I need to take the time to explain to them what that means. I know they understand, in general, what it means, but I don’t think they understand the struggles that come with being gay. I’m glad I told them, but I don’t know what this means in the future. When I go back home, I know we are going to have a conversation about this. They actually said, ‘We are going to have a conversation about this.’ They were very good about it. They told me that they loved me and stuff like that, but they want to talk more about it. I am glad I did it. I would never take it back, and I wish I had done it earlier.”
“I didn’t talk about it earlier because I am from Greece, which is not a country where people are very public about being LGBTQ+. There have been many reported deaths of trans people. Marriage equality is not a thing in Greece. The Church does not recognize it; in fact, they call us names, bad names. There have been many homophobic instances in the media. They actually erase or blur out homosexual scenes in TV shows, and they will translate the words like ‘lesbian’ into ‘tomboy’ or ‘gay’ to ‘happy’ instead of what it actually means. All of this was going through the back of my mind as I was thinking about coming out to my parents. Also, because no one is public about it, it is hard to have a role model in Greece. I knew about people outside Greece, but there was no one from my home country to look up to. So I never really accepted it until about 9th grade. I always knew that I was different, but I wasn’t sure what it was…or I didn’t want to know.”
“I’ve always had a good relationship with my parents, but because I have always had this secret, I was always felt a little estranged. The first person I ever told was my brother on my 18th birthday. That was the first time I ever told anyone. After I told my brother, I knew I had to tell my parents someday. I didn’t want to do it while I lived at home. I did it through Skype while here. It was easier to tell them that way. I always intended to tell them, but there was never a perfect time. I never made the perfect time. I think that National Coming Out Day really encouraged me to tell them. I was really fed up with hiding it because I feel like hiding it really tore us apart. Even if they didn’t see it, I saw it.”