Coming Out?

Open Minds Group January 2021 - Coming Out or Inviting In?

Like lots of other groups, we have had to move our face to face support group to an online only space because of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a summary of our January 2021 meeting.

It was great to welcome so many people to January’s group. The meeting was run jointly by Kuljit and Kirath and we started and ended the meeting with some fantastic mindful moments focusing on grounding ourselves with breathing and some stretches.

As you might expect, the conversations about ‘Coming Out’ were complicated. We all had different experiences of telling people about our LGBTQ+ identities. We talked about how some people can judge others for not ‘being out’ and also how this idea of ‘outness’ is something that doesn’t always make sense in Punjabi communities.

A newer way of thinking about telling people about your LGBTQ+ identity is called ‘inviting in’. It can make the idea of telling people your truth much more relaxed as you get to choose who you trust enough to invite into your LGBTQ+ life. People seemed to like this idea and felt that it can give you the option of approaching things with a different mindset.

A few people talked about feeling of guilt when they thought about how their parents would feel when they told them about their LGBTQ+ identities and that sometimes this guilt puts them off being open with them.

There was no judgement about people not being open about their LGBTQ+ identities with their family. We all recognised that everyone is on their own journey and we’re all trying to do what makes sense for us at this moment in time.

We’re going to put together a resource sheet about ‘coming out’ and ‘inviting in’ inspired by our January meeting and will hopefully publish this in February.

We continue to meet monthly and if you want to join us at an Open Minds Meeting, please visit the Events page on our website.

The Open Minds Project