Added: 17th November 2023 by Leonardo
11 October is celebrated as International Coming Out Day, to support LGBTQ+ people to ‘come out of the closet’. Leonardo's Thaniel Walker, Senior Systems Engineer at our Edinburgh site and member of our Pride network group, shares their thoughts on the act of 'coming out'.
“Coming out” is a term understood as part of social lexicon – it’s the idea of hiding part of yourself in a closet, and then making a decision to leave that space. For some, the closet is a place of dark and secret safety, but for others it could be an isolating burden, making everything seem greyscale. If the time is right, “coming out” of the closet (maybe wearing something fabulous that you found in the back) is an opportunity to finally see and be seen in full colour!
This act of revealing your identity can be empowering; it can be an important step to embracing your true self, and finding a community of people who understand how you’re feeling, and what it’s like to be in a similar position. It can also be very nerve-wracking, if you’re not sure how someone will react.
But I think it’s kind of a misnomer. “Coming out” isn’t one big event that you do once, and then you never have to do again. It’s a lot of moments, sometimes tiny in passing to the people hearing the news, but often emotionally massive for the person telling it.
When I “came out” as transgender, I had to individually tell my friends, my immediate family, then my extended family, my doctor, my line manager, my team… This weekend, I had to go in person to tell my bank, because there’s no other way to change your legal name than in person. If we’re lucky, those moments are met with acceptance. If we’re very lucky, they’re met with joy and love!
The Leonardo Pride Network is a group of LGBTQ+ employees (and allies) who have come together to support each other and ALL our fellow employees. The network has been a great source of strength and support for me personally, and the rest of the network wants to take this opportunity to share some joy and love with everyone.
