On October 11
millions of openly gay Americans will reflect on the day
they took those brave first steps out of the closet,
providing support and encouragement to others who have
yet to find their voice. On the second day of our
coming-out series, Brooke Knows Best star Glenn
Douglas Packard (pictured), SAGE executive director
Michael Adams, and Family Equality Council executive
director Jennifer Chrisler share their coming-out
stories.
***
Glenn Douglas Packard, actor-dancer (Brooke Knows Best)
The coming-out
story that sticks out the most for me would be my national
coming-out on Brooke Knows Best. When Hulk
Hogan, an icon in the wrestling industry who has a
lot of straight men looking up to him, asked on a
scale from 1 to 10 how gay I am, it was simple to
answer because I know who I am. So I
responded -- 10!
Because I
grew up a small-town farm boy in Michigan, I think a
lot of young men in the smaller states and
towns across America responded to learning
more about my story -- they no longer felt so alone,
because even though there are a lot of us in major cities
like Los Angeles, New York, and Miami, there are still
a ton of young men scared to come out and feeling very
alone in those other areas. By my standing up to the
Hulk, they saw that they too could be open about who they
are, and it has been nice to be able to inspire
others.
I've also
heard from a lot of straight men who had seen the episode,
and because Hulk was OK with me, it's opened their
eyes to realize that we are out there and it's OK to
be a bit more open-minded to the gay community.
When the first
episode of Brooke Knows Best aired, I had to
come out to my whole family in Michigan, from Grandma to
nephews to aunts and uncles, and it has been something I've
wanted to do for so long. I was a family secret and
wanted to bring my two worlds together. Because of my
coming out on the show, it has brought my family
closer together and they are 100% cheering me on!
***
Michael Adams, executive director, Services and
Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)
Meeting my first
boyfriend when I was 21 triggered my coming out, and
that happened in Lima, Peru. I had taken a break from
college to spend a year abroad and "find
myself" -- and boy, did I!
Oscar and I met
on the street during my first week in Lima, when I was
lost and asked him for directions. I was so naive back
then it didn't dawn on me that he was gay
(though it certainly dawned on me that he was
cute). Up to that point I'd had very little
interaction with gay people; in fact, I'd
never been in a gay bar. So, my first gay bar, my
first drag show -- many "firsts" took place
during my eight months living in Peru.
Oscar and I
stayed together for two years. He ended up moving to
the United States. And it was at our very first
pride parade, in New York City in 1983 or 1984, that I
was first exposed to SAGE. I'll never
forget watching the SAGE trolley go by full of proud LGBT
seniors waving their flags -- and their
canes! There was something about that sight that
I found so moving. Maybe it's fate that more
than 20 years later I have the privilege of being
SAGE's executive director.
***
Jennifer Chrisler,executive director, Family Equality Council
I came out the
first time in 1990 at Smith College. I did the
requisite coming-out things -- cut my hair short, bought a
leather jacket, told my mother, went dancing, saw the
Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge, and started
playing bridge at the student center (which was a
uniquely Smith coming-out thing to do).
Little did I
realize that seven years after coming out, I'd be
back in the closet again, dating a Massachusetts state
senator and diving for cover if I was at her house and
someone knocked on the door (and I mean that
literally). My spouse, Cheryl
Jacques, was elected in 1992 -- a not-so-friendly time
for openly gay candidates. So she hid her sexual orientation
during her first run for office. And she kept on
hiding it -- after we started dating, after we moved
in together, even while we were talking about the idea
of having and raising children together.
But in June 2000,
budget cuts were threatening to eliminate spending on a
suicide-prevention program aimed specifically at LGBT
youths. And she courageously recognized how being an
out lesbian senator in Massachusetts could offer some
small source of support for the many LGBT youths
across the state. Together we told the media our story,
weathered the small attacks, and enjoyed the huge
outpouring of support.
The rest of our
story has been a somewhat open book -- sometimes for the
good and sometimes not to our liking. But we always remain
true to ourselves and to our now-6-year-old twins,
because pride in who you are is one of the most
important lessons you can teach your children.
