Write a Comment
5 Comments
Thanks Lucinda, partly it has been your honesty and sense of commitment to the community that has led me to think about it. Thank you for your thoughts.
Thanks Doug - what a fantastic quote! Love it (and Neil Young)!
I have told some but not others. What criteria I use to decide who I tell changes by the day. Like you said I think long and hard about who I share it with. I have told people and wished I had kept my mouth shut to them. But I can't stand the vigilance when I talk to people. At the end of the day it really doesn't mean that much to me to mean that much to them. To quote Neil Young.
I have grappled with this too. Coming out about having hepatitis C was tough, but coming out as having mental illness and as an alcoholic in recovery was even harder. The alcoholic part is particularly hard since that word implies so many things to many people. My decision to come out was slow, and selective. I am still quite careful about who I tell and who I don't. Oddly, telling the world on the Internet is much easier than telling people one-on-one. For me, I was either going to stand tall and say, "I have these diseases" and raise awareness with and for my brothers and sisters, or I was going to simmer in fear. I have never regretted my decision. However, I have been attacked on the Internet, gossiped about, and judged. I don't care, because the freedom I have and the joy of being in community with others with similar issues outweighs the risks. I figured it was easier than grappling with sexual identity issues or being the subject of racial discrimination - and skin color cannot be hidden. I was inspired by those who fought harder prejudices. Just one thing, once the genie is out of the bottle, it/he/she won't go back in.
Lucinda Porter
I did have one other thought to add. This is my life's work. Although you are clearly committed to this community, it is not your only calling. You serve other people as well. It would have been odd if I had done this work without being open about my status.
July 12, 2015