Supporting International Pagan Coming Out Day 2011

*This article was originally written by Sorn during his long tenure as Ritari. It has been reposted here in an effort to collect all our resources on our new site.

May 2, 2011 (Monday) is International Pagan Coming Out Day. I support the idea, but, I admit, it also makes me a little angry. As an American, I am embarrassed that the land of the free and the home of the brave, the republican democracy with the Bill of Rights, is also a country in which some of its citizens may feel the need to conceal their religion from their fellow citizens in order to keep themselves and their families safe.

I am already “out,” of course. I openly wear my Mjolnir and other Heathen jewelry, I answer questions about my faith as completely and honestly as possible, and I speak as freely of my religious practices as any other significant part of my life. Anyone who’s taken the time to know me, knows I’m Heathen.

I’m privileged in my ability to be open, though. I’m a white male, I’m intelligent and educated, I’m taller and slightly more physically powerful than average, and, perhaps most importantly, I’m possessed of some truly amazing friends and family who continually give me support and encouragement in my life. I live in a state with a fairly well-established multicultural tradition. I don’t have children, so I don’t have to worry that my kids might be attacked at school or taken away from me by overzealous, poorly-informed social workers or judges. I’m not in a particularly sensitive position at work, I’m not trying to advance through a prejudicial and highly subjective educational system, and I’m not interested in going into politics.

That doesn’t mean it’s all happiness and sunshine being a Zen/Shinto-influenced practitioner of Asatru in modern America. Probably because I’m intellectually agile and physically competent (and because a great many people are fearful at heart), I’ve been subjected to a number of cowardly and passively-aggressive tactics through the years. Acts of vandalism and theft are popular choices, as is leaving me anonymous threatening notes, Biblical verses, and the oh-so-persuasive Chick tracts. Still, it’s a far cry from the beatings, arrests, and attempted stonings of witches in previous decades, so I’ll take it.

Not everyone who practices a minority faith is as lucky as I am. I personally know people, some of whom are nearly as dear to me as my own kin, who have real, valid fears that lead them to live deceptive, stressful double lives. They have to worry about whether being open about who they are will cost them their jobs, their family, and their prospects for a better future. I’ve met people online who have had difficulty in divorce cases because former spouses have deliberately perpetuated some of the more vicious stories about Pagan religions in order to gain custody of children.

Part of my being out is just me being me. If you can’t accept me for who I am, then I don’t need you in my life. It’s that simple. Part of it, though, is for all the folks who can’t be out. The more of us there are who only have to cope with occasional harassment and inconvenience and who are willing and able to be open, the easier it becomes for everyone to be out. We become less “other,” less alien and strange, and, consequently, harder to demonize.

If you can be out and you’re not already, I urge you to please consider being open about who you are, not necessarily this Monday, but when the time is right. If you can’t be out, please support those who are in what ways you can. If you’re of one of the majority faiths but have someone in your life who isn’t, please continue to give them the support, love, and encouragement they deserve.

For more information on International Pagan Coming Out Day, there is a website at: http://pagancomingoutday.org/  They have various helpful and interesting resources, including a guide to coming out.

#acceptance, #citizen, #demonization, #encouragement, #InternationalPaganComingOutDay, #openness, #other, #pagan, #politics