I am a homosexual individual with a coming out story to share, but many of you as my friends have been along the way and know it pretty well. There is something that I have not told anyone yet, and I think is time to come clean --not even Mitch, my boyfriend of two years now, has the slightest idea of this that I am about to tell you all; or maybe he does, I don't know, he is a smart man. So here it goes:
I am proud of who I am, and I am lucky for having friends that helped pave the path as we walked together through life; and truly blessed for counting with the support and love from my mother and brothers that have been with me no matter what. Yet, in reality, when I find myself in a situation where certain amount of people do not know I am gay, I cannot bring myself to correct them when they assume it is a woman when I speak of my romantic life due to the fact that I don't use gender pronouns. See, I am not ashamed to be gay and I would never deny my boyfriend, BUT the Latino community (which is the only I tend to stay silent about my sexual orientation) is a little more conservative than others that I'm surrounded by. This whole 'macho' stigmata has me between a wall and the closet. I guess I am more concerned of what they'll think. No, I believe that it's just second nature to me to go with the flow and let people think whatever they want to; more than anything though, my main purpose is to give them the chance to see me as a person and not as "the gay" manager, or my brother's "gay" sibling, or just anything "gay" blank. I am more than just gay, and being gay does not define who I am. You may say that I shouldn't worry about it, but I do; I only have one life and I want to make it worth, I want to make sure I am doing something for the LGBTQ community and my little doing is to break stereotypes --it may sound dumb and unfounded, but it is the intention that should count.
Don't get me wrong though, just because I don't speak with a lisp, or have feminine mannerism as other gay men, I am not saying that they are bad, no. The so-called "flammers" are the ones taking more crap and discrimination than the rest of us so I respect them more than anything; my advice for them is to let their flames burn! You go, boys! And I'll smack a bitch trying to get in their way.
I guess my main point is, do not underestimate the power of the gay. It's a revolution for equality, and it's not over yet, unfortunately. When I walk down the park holding Mitch's hand and other people walking past us do not say anything, or smile at us, or keep looking straight ahead, or act naturally, that's when I feel hope that someday it'll be what it should be now: nobody's business.