Written: 3/12/2012
The Good Man Project has an amazing piece up about intolerance. So much rang true with me. A few bits:
I was afraid of what might happen if I did come out. What if it all went pear-shaped and we couldn’t work together anymore? I was spending the majority of my time with these people; if we didn’t get along it would make the work environment insufferable.
When I think back on it, I always feel resentment toward my co-workers for making me feel like I needed to hide who I was.
I let my own assumptions about conservatives affect the way I handled the situation
From the first statement, I know what will happen if I come out, I’ll lose my job. Although it’s interesting to see another perspective.
Yeah, the second statement rings really true. I really hold ill feelings towards the situation I’m stuck in, and I’m always afraid that that will spill over to individual people. Yes, they often do things that offend me, and bad-mouth the LGBT community. I tend to try to push those feelings down because I have to work with these people, but I hold so much resentment and anger inside.
And on the flip side of that, I do have to remember that these are people too, people that I’ve probably angered. And overall, even though they all have their idiosyncrasies, we all work well together.
It’s a tough balance, and I’m tired of walking it.
All my best,
The King of Spades
