An online project for National Coming Out Day this month is encouraging people to tell the world about their sexuality by uploading video messages to a popular website. One woman in a YouTube video describes her own journey in a message done alone in the privacy of a house, but now being broadcast to the world. "I came out at 19 years old, when I kissed a woman for the first time," she says in the video. "While kissing her, I distinctly remember thinking two things - one, this is awesome, and two, my mother can never know." American organisation Human Rights Campaign invited LGBT people - and supportive straight people - to watch their video on YouTube and record a response telling what inspires them to live their lives openly and honestly. There are now dozens of online video responses posted, and every day more people add their voices. Analysts in Australia say sites like YouTube and Facebook are prompting people to come out of the closet at a younger age than ever before. Meredith Turnbull is the executive officer at the gay youth support group Twenty10. She says increasing numbers are talking about their sexuality on personal blogs or through social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. "The distance helps, especially when you're saying things for the first time, so maybe it's a good opportunity to practice coming out," she said. "But also I think it's got an element of fun and creativity to it that you might not always have the opportunity to do just within a face-to-face context." She says that distance is also encouraging people to be open about the issue earlier in their life than if they were dealing directly with friends or family. "Young people certainly can access a social network at a far younger age because they can find other people just like themselves online, because I guess ... it feels a bit safer or a bit easier to do it that way," she said. The Human Rights Campaign's video can be viewed below.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Thursday, 18th October 2007 - 8:23am