Coming Out – Fear The Enemy of Love
Coming out – Fear the enemy of love is a deeply human look at emotions, questions, fear, anger, recognition and love provoked by the discovery of one’s sexual orientation and its announcement to the family circle.
Annick, Laurent, Sylvie, Luc, en Olivier: Five people who tell stories about themselves en their homosexuality. These are stories about discovery, sensuality, fear, recognition, sexuality, diversity and love. Where one tells about her first sexual feelings as a teenager, an other one recalls the difficulties that came with the recognition of his homosexuality and someone else about the passionate lovestory that made him discover his sexual orientation. They all talk about the anouncement of there homosexuality with their families: the incomprehension of their familymembers, the anger and sometimes shame, but also the recognition of love. With all of these five livestories an intrinsic universal truth shines trough: The fear of (self)acceptance diminishes love, while openess en acceptation makes it comes to live.
What is coming out?
Coming out refers to the phrase “Coming out of the closet” which is the process that people who are LGBTQ go through as they work to accept their sexual orientation or gender identity and share that identity openly with other people.
Not everyone comes out in the same way. And not everyone comes out to everybody in their lives, or at the same time. There’s no one right way to come out.
What does it mean to come out?
Coming out is a very brave thing to do, and it’s extremely personal and different for everyone. Your emotions may range from scared and anxious to elated and relieved.
There’s no one right way to come out. It can feel better to be open and honest about your sexual orientation than to hide it, but there are many factors to consider before coming out.
- Coming out is a process. Often the first step is to be honest to yourself. This happens as you recognize your sexual orientation and begin to accept it. Next, you might choose to tell your family, friends, and people in your community — sometimes right away, and sometimes later. You might decide to be open with some people in your life, but not with others.
Coming out isn’t a one-time thing. Because many people assume that everyone they meet is straight, coming out is a constant process. Every time an LGBTQ-identified person meets someone new (friends, co-workers, nurses and doctors, etc.), they have to decide if, when, and how to come out.
Choosing to come out depends on the situation. The coming-out process can be freeing and can bring you closer to the people you love. But it can also be stressful or even risky or dangerous. You may feel safer not coming out in certain situations. You don’t have to be out everywhere, all the time. You can decide what’s best for you.
Coming out can have benefits and risks. If you’re wondering whether to come out, there’s a lot to consider. Does coming out mean that you risk losing emotional or financial support from your family? Could coming out put you in physical danger? Will your family try to pressure you into being someone you’re not? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to wait until you’re in a different situation or have more support.