By Lindsay Mohler October 11, 2020
{Image Description: Faded FAA logo in the background with a black background. Six digital hearts are at the top, each one a different color of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Below this is text that reads: “Just like Rainbows. It’s National Coming Out Day. You should be able to love whoever you want, marry who you want, and be yourself. It is not a sin to be LGBTQ+, and intentional queerphobia is not tolerated.”} Today is National Coming Out Day. The history of National Coming Out Day starts with Washington D.C. protests, which was common then, and still today. National Coming Out Day started in the year 1987, when folks marched out on the streets in D.C. to protest for LGBTQ+ rights. More can be found here. Today is an important day for the autistic community because 70 percent of folks in the autistic community are LGBTQ+ (George, R., Stokes, M.A., 2018). Please support the LGBTQ+ person in your life today, especially if they are coming out. Don’t push them away or into a box. They need to be accepted. It is also LGBTQ+ History Month this October and that month ends on Halloween (Oct. 31st). LGBTQ+ History is mainly celebrated in June, but is also still celebrated in October. “This occasion began in 1994 when Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher, believed that a month should be dedicated to the celebration of gay and lesbian history, and October was chosen to coincide with other existing traditions, such as Coming Out Day on October 11.”
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