For LGBT History Month the Diversity & Inclusion team is sharing some of their reflections. The following piece comes from Nicole Robinson, Diversity & Inclusion Consultant.
I have now lost count of the number of times I have come out. The idea that you tell one group of people, and that is it, for the rest of your life doesn’t really work. Being a bisexual woman married to a man means coming out over, and over again. It means invisibility, and it means deciding with every person you meet what to tell them.
It means having no space in London Pride marches, and very few queer spaces in general – and that’s before discussing the general lack of accessibility or the fact that (shock) clubbing and drinking alcohol might not be every queer person’s idea of a great time. My general experience is nicely summarised in this Buzzfeed post that shares experiences of other women like myself.
For me, that is the heart of what LGBT+ History Month is about. It is an opportunity to bring visibility to the people and the stories that I do not normally get to see and hear. It is an opportunity to reconnect, to recover, to celebrate, to ask for more of the people I am surrounded by. Most importantly, it is an opportunity to remember the incredible activists who have allowed us this path, and to the people who continue to fight today.