#mcacbham

Free and open to all folks ages 13-24.

Happy 29th annual National Coming Out Day, y’all. If you’ve chosen to come out to someone today, we’re thinking of you and hope you have love and support. If you wanted to come out to someone but weren’t able to, we’re thinking of you and hope you have love and support too. Same if you feel like you’re totally out of close friends and family to come out to. Same if you don’t take any stock in the idea of coming out or Coming Out Day. This week at MCAC we’ve made space during programs to welcome folks to tell coming out stories. As we’ve shared and listened, here are some things we’ve taken time to remind ourselves and our allies:-Getting to come out can be a privilege. For a lot of folks coming out can be a great experience of pride and authenticity. For a lot of folks, it’s not safe to come out at the risk of physical, emotional, financial safety, etc. For others still, there may be no choice in coming out because someone has taken away that opportunity by outing them. Acknowledging all this recognizes that coming out can be complex. - No one ever owes it to anyone to come out. Coming out is personal and it’s so important that we take care not to talk about coming out in a way that pressures others to do so and certainly not to out them. - Coming out is rarely ever a one-time big announcement, but more often a series of experiences, little moments, conversations and even more conversations. -There’s folks in our community who love the concept of coming out just like there are folks who challenge the concept all together. These ideas are different for each of us and our community has space for all. - No one who has come out is a more important or more valid part of our community than anyone who hasn’t. And there’s support for folks coming out at all different stages of life. The thing we want you to know most (and the reason we’ve written this super long post) is that you are not alone in figuring out what all these things mean for you. We’re happy to provide resources locally and to be able to share ones like @thetrevorproject for LGBTQ youth to access 24/7 support over the phone, via text, and online. Happy Coming Out Day. We hope you’ve had a good day however you’ve spent it!

Thanks so much to @buzzfeedlgbt and @wearetransilient for spending some time with us and capturing such a great little portrait of our community! We're proud to be featured alongside folks working hard to build safe spaces in the south like the Phillip Rush Center in Georgia and the Center for Artistic Revolution in Arkansas. We love our queer southern family!

Brought to you by The Change Project and the Magic City Acceptance Center! Thursday, November 12th at B&A Warehouse. Lobby doors open at 6:45PM Show starts at 7:30PM Student tickets are $15 and General Admission is $20.