National Coming Day has become a sacred day in LGBTQ+ culture.  It's one of the most powerful and terrifying moments in a person's journey.  For someone to share their truth they certainly can face the risk of being shunned by biological family, face religious condemnation, isolation, discrimination, economic ruin, violence, and even death.

However, to be out, to own your truth is to know the sweetest kind of freedom.  To live your life in the fullness of its truth is why so many of us risk coming out. Coming out is no small undertaking which is why we celebrate this right of passage.

In celebration of National Coming Out Day, we highlight poet Dakota Pinon.  A member of our community who's own personal journey is reflective of so many in our community.  Here we provide a platform so that Dakota may express their sentiments.

by Dakota Pinon

It was a September night the 12th to be exact and the year was 2016, I was fifteen years of age. My best friend Rachel came barreling through the door around 6 o’clock. I lit the stove and the air filled with the smell of sweetness as I gently turned each banana so they wouldn’t burn. She and I gathered around the table and nothing but the sound of crunching from the fried bananas and laugher filled the room. My laugher was nerve-wracking of course, because about an hour later we went to my room and chattered a bit, then called my mom to scurry in. I had to release the pressure that has been weighing on me since I came to terms with why I didn’t feel right in my body when I gained a conscious as a child. I was silent at first, I was afraid to speak I didn’t know how to say it. So, after a while of awkward phrased “sentences,” my mom replied, “are you trying to tell me you feel like a boy.” I said “yes,” she went to bed and we spoke the next day. It was extremely difficult the first few years, but today she is the most supportive person and I wouldn’t want anyone else to be my mom.

Here is a poem I wrote about coming out and what it felt like in the moment:

 If you or someone you know is seeking resources on Coming Out, you can find them here