Anyone reading this blog would probably think that i am out and proud to everyone i know but until recently that was not the case. I came out to my parents, brother and most of my friends when i was 16 but alas my dad's side of the family are quite religious and my parents were worried about their reaction, at first it didn't matter to me as i had already moved out of the family home and not long after that i left Sheffield totally, since then i barely see any of them more than once a year - it has proved to be quite an arduous task to not mention partners or the work that i do but i have managed to get through the "do you have a girlfriend yet?" by just fake smiling and not answering.

Cut to last week and i logged onto the addiction that is Facebook to see that my 2nd cousin had added me as a friend. I was fine about this but then realised that if she looked at my profile she would see that i was a raging mo! I called my mother to see what she thought but my dad answered - he does not really talk about my sexuality but he immediately asked if she had been in touch and i said yeah but if i add her she will know about me, his response was "oh just add her and come out, it's gone on long enough" - well go papa!!

I added my 2nd cousin and sent a message "coming out", she asked if she could talk about it with the family and i said go for it, since then i have had calls from people i have not heard from in a long time, not berating me but congragulating me and saying how proud they are and wish they had known sooner, This is great - i can now talk about the work that i do and boyfriends (well when i get one i can talk about him).

It feels so strange to have this going on now, i thought my coming out days were well behind me but it just goes to show that the coming out process lasts a lifetime, thats why we need prides, thats why we need history month - things may have improved for LGBT people but the personal journey of acceptance is the most important of all, legislation can be changed, rights can be secured but until you are happy in your own skin and the people in your life are happy with the you that you are happy with, you still have some way to go - just be thankful there are people who love you to get you through.

xx