Do You Change When You Are Gay?
“When you’re gay, nothing changes. You stay the same. Your personality doesn’t change; the people in your life don’t change; who you are doesn’t change; nothing changes.” This is a real quote made by a drastically unqualified heterosexual man with good intentions. He shared this during a mandatory diversity training session. The company's HR representative had asked, “Do you think people change after coming out as gay?” This was back in 2001, and despite being open about my sexual identity for only five years, I had a lot to say on the matter. Why? Because after this vanilla, Southern boy (i.e. me) came out as gay, a lot did in fact change. Growing up, I always presented signs of being gay. I toted a purse in which I carried my hot wheels cars and a turtle I once found on the side of the road. I made my male Star Wars action figures make out with each other. But I never told anyone I was gay until I woke my wife a little after 2 am on a weeknight back in 1999. And despite h...