For some time, I feel like I've been leading a double life. I have this secret that I've been hiding from too many people for too long. I kept a very significant part of my life private from many people, because I was worried about the repercussions. I've been worried that some people might not agree with my choices or approve of people like me. In fact, there have been people who have been ridiculed, bullied, fired or even physically hurt for promoting the lifestyle that I want to live.
While I was a teacher I would go into school and be the person that I felt my colleagues, students and the community wanted me to be. Yet, at night I would go home and spend hours on websites interacting with other people like me, and reading about their lifestyle. At social gatherings I would avoid bringing up how I really felt because I didn't know how people would react or whether they would even want to talk to me anymore.
This weekend without telling most of my friends, family and coworkers I left town and went to a hotel with a bunch of other men (and some women, too) just like me and went to a space where we all felt more comfortable being ourselves and talking openly about what we want our lives to be like.
So here it is... I'm a progressive Albertan
Phew, I feel so much better now.
Okay, so maybe it's not that much of a surprise, but I am going to change my life a bit because of what I took away from Reboot Alberta this weekend. I'm not going to worry about talking about politics anymore - in any social circle. I'm going to tell more people about my blog. I'm going to ask you to follow me on Twitter. I'm going to use my facebook profile to advocate for change.
It comes down to this. We deserve to have a better province and we are not going to get it unless we talk about what it should look like. I want to hear what you think about Alberta and what you think about politics. I want you to bring it up with me in conversation. We are going to disagree, but that's okay. I'm not going to think any less of you and I hope you won't think any less of me.
So, thanks for reading and before you go I have three things to ask of you.
1. Visit the Reboot Alberta website.
2. Share this post with others you know - on Twitter, on Facebook, by email.
3. Consider coming out to your friends.
Let's start affecting the change that we want to see.
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3 comments:
Amazing energy this weekend, and I think a lot of people are going to step up and step out in the months to come. I'm looking forward to it.
Absolutely! This post is really intended for my offline friends. I have posted it to Facebook, I'm going to message it and email it to virtually everyone I know.
The only way we effect change in public policy is by engaging with others in discussion of public policy. Civil society requires engagement. We don't always get what we want - as there are many viewpoints to any issue - but by engaging we encourage others of like mind and together we can make a big difference. Progress cannot be measured on an issue by issue basis but rather how we are doing as a whole society, both locally and globally
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