September 22, 2023 at 5:17 pm #140822
Jennifer:
There is a distinction to be made. You are talking about Being Out in public, as opposed to Coming Out, which is explaining ones status to someone else.
Over time, MANY here have dealt with the fear of being out in public. I won’t say that nothing can happen, but the reality is that our fear of incidents is disproportional to the frequency of incidents. However, that in no way should suggest being cavalier about any environment with which we find ourselves. Shit still happens and it is important to remember that we are in times of rising hate crimes.
One strategy that many have employed is to make progress in small steps, such as talking a walk dressed, going to a grocery store dressed in another neighborhood, etc.
Baby Steps!