Today is National Coming Out Day, the day each year where we attempt to raise the public awareness of lesbian and gay people by coming out to someone new.

My personal experience, and the experience of thousands of others, is that people who are anti-gay are often that way because the only opinion they have of gay people comes from those straight people who want to oppress us. People tend to lose their homophobia once they realize they've known a great gay person all along. And they often switch sides completely towards activism when they experience the shame that someone they loved didn't want to come out to them because of their bigotry.

This has happened time and again in my family. People who were once rabid homophobes now regularly participate in GLBT community activities, fundraisers, Pridefest, and everything else. It's half wanting to support me, and half as an act of contrition for keeping me in a state of unease or downright discomfort for so long. Added together, it means that many more supporters of the community.

Coming out changes the world for the better. Do it for your sake and mine.