The Roads We Take

Yesterday was National Coming Out Day. Throughout history, people have remained in the closet for various reasons, but in this day and age, people are more comfortable and confident in coming out. Coming out is something that only a minority of people have to do. Only members of the LGBTQ+ community are forced to declare our sexuality in order to be true to ourselves. Some in the LGBTQ+ community, never come out, and that is their choice to make. For a lot of people, it’s a very difficult choice. 

Yesterday, I posted the Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken.” It’s final lines say:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

At some point in an LGBTQ+ individual’s life, they have certain choices they must make: Do I accept who I am? Will I hide who I really am from the world? If not, who do I want to come out to first? Who else do I want to know? Then, once out of the closet, we are forced to come out over and over again. Coming out has been the “road not taken” for many people. The LGBTQ+ community is a minority, and thus coming out becomes the road “less traveled by.” For me, taking that “less traveled by” road has made all the difference.