Opportunity's A-Knockin'

Lately some really cool things have been floating my way as a result of being on the Board of the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) group at Disney. We had our monthly event on Tuesday night which has been picking up steam throughout the year. I’m always approached by various members who want to introduce themselves. Usually they thank me for keeping the group active, which is always appreciated. This time though I was asked by a director at PFLAG if I would be interested in speaking at an upcoming PFLAG (Parents and Family of Lesbians and Gays) meeting. Me! Wow! What an honor! I didn’t think twice about it. He explained that I was a rare and sought after candidate to speak to those who are in the process of coming out and to their parents. Apparently there aren’t all that many professional, ethnic women who are out and very visible working at a Fortune 500 company. Even writing this brings back that great feeling. I didn’t come out until I was 28 and my life was turned upside down for a number of years following that. What I can say though, is that once I was able to accept myself as a lesbian there was no turning back, ever. While I did attend a few coming out chat sessions at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center as well as started seeing a therapist one-on-one, I have never to this day attended a PFLAG meeting. It’s not that I steered clear, I just never looked into it. Maybe if I had, I would have been able to deal with the difficulties I faced with my Mom a bit more easily. Anyway, I cannot think of a better way to give back to the community than to allow them to look at me as an example of someone who has ‘made it to the other side’. Ten years ago and long before that, I would have never dreamed I would be asked to do something like this. I am really looking forward to this. The PFLAG director said I should actually look into speaking at high schools in LA. He said he gets contacted frequently and asked for someone with my background to speak. Who knows, maybe I’ll be tapping back into those public speaking skills once again. The other opportunity lies on the promoting end of things and also could potentially open doors in that arena for me. I’ll go into that another time. Good things coming my way. It’s nice and I’m appreciating it.