Hey everyone, I'm J.P. Swenson, the fellow here on the Curious City team. Over the years, lots of you

have asked us questions about LGBTQ life in Chicago. We've done stories about the history of

queer traveling parties, Boys Town, now known as North Hollestead, and even the dating scene.

But this week, I want to bring you a story

about another important element of gay and lesbian life

coming out of the closet.

As a 23-year-old queer person living in Chicago,

it can be easy to take the act of coming out for granted.

Among my friends, it's a regular occurrence.

And if you're listening to this, well, I may have just come out to you. And I feel fortunate that

LGBT people and their allies fought hard so that the process of coming out could be a lot

easier for someone like me. But that's not to say coming out is easy for everyone today.

In fact, countless queer people across the country still don't feel comfortable or safe

coming out.

And that was even more true in the past.

Next Tuesday is National Coming Out Day, which was first observed back in 1988.

It was a day meant to raise awareness around LGBT rights and center queer people and their experiences.

So, on this episode, we're marking the historic importance of this day by bringing you the stories of a number of people who for years hid a major part of their identity,

but eventually came out later in life.

I felt that by sort of pretending or being straight,

or at least straight enough to make a heterosexual marriage work was the thing to do.

It was kind of a social compliance. That's coming up.

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