October 11 - Coming Out Day
“Come Out. Speak Out. Vote.” is the theme for this year’s National Coming Out Day - encouraging gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans to talk to their families and friends about their lives.
“This year, we need more than ‘I’m gay and it’s OK.’ We need our families and friends to say ‘It’s not OK to use gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues as a wedge,’” said Cheryl Jacques, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “We must talk to and involve our families and friends. Their voices are some of the strongest in the fight for equality.”
National Coming Out Day is celebrated every Oct. 11 to mark the anniversary of the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Each year since, thousands of GLBT people and allies have celebrated National Coming Out Day in schools, churches and businesses nationwide through workshops, speak-outs, rallies and other events aimed at showing the public that GLBT people are everywhere.