This week, two prominent public figures have come out of the closet and publicly identified as gay and I for one have something to say about this.

First came new of CNN Anchor Don Lemon. Lemon, who anchors CNN’s Newsroom and who this year was voted as one of the Ebony Power 150 most influential blacks in America, released a statement in anticipation of his new book “Transparent” where he stated:

“Today I chose to step out on faith and begin openly living my own truth. And let me say right up front that I hope many of you will be inspired to do the same thing in your daily lives. Some of the things I’ve chosen to reveal in my book Transparent were very difficult to share with even those closest to me.

There was a time when I was terrified of revealing these things to the person I love most in this world - my own mother. But when I finally mustered the courage to tell her that I had been molested as a child and that I was born gay, my life began to change in positive ways that I never imagined possible. Yet I still chose to keep those secrets hidden from the world. I, like most gay people, lived a life of fear. Fear that if some employers, co-workers, friends, neighbors and family members learned of my sexuality, I would be shunned, mocked and ostracized. It is a burden that millions of people carry with them every single day. And sadly, while the mockery and ostracizing are realized by millions of people every day, I truly believe it doesn’t have to happen and that’s why I feel compelled to share what I’ve written in Transparent.”

Welts, who started out as a ball boy with the Seattle Supersonics at 16, had to keep his orientation under lock and key during his meteoric rise to team presidencies.
"In my mind, I had to make sacrifices in my personal life in order to protect my professional career," he said.

Especially in a conservative state like Arizona, land of lax gun laws and tough immigration bills. He never brought a long-time partner to team events - and when that partner contracted AIDs and died of it, he had to suffer in silence. "That was the most difficult thing I've ever had to do," Welts said. "Walking into the office and trying to explain why I needed to be gone a couple of days. Nobody should have to go through that."
 

I'm so glad some important people are coming out with their sexuality, showing respect for themselves and giving power to our voices as gays who have no expression on media, even in our communities or work places s well. Unfortunately, these people are still a minority, protected by their own social and financial condition, and whether or not they talk their truth, their spot in this society is respected not because they are or not gays - that's because they have money, power or whatsoever which can show power. That's how the ideology works.