Visibility Matters
#BiHealthMonth
Mental health is health. Anyone who’s followed my writing knows, by now, that I wholeheartedly believe mental health is just as important as physical health. Well, it is #BiHealthMonth and I want to take a moment to chime in with a few words about how impactful it was for me to officially, publicly, come out as bisexual last year, even as someone who had been telling myself, all along, that I wasn’t hiding it — that I didn’t need to say anything and it would just be obvious and known.
The truth is that I was fooling myself. I was viewed through the heteronormative lens of our society no matter how obviously not-hetero I thought I was being. And as much as I told myself I wasn’t hiding anything, I caught myself carefully choosing vague wording for a public post and it challenged the core beliefs I held of my honesty and authenticity.
Originally, my frustration with myself over that post, and the motivation for making an undeniable declaration of my bisexuality, was rooted in the desire to model authenticity and self-acceptance for my kids.
But, I was surprised by how liberating it felt. I recognized the extent to which I had subconsciously…
