One of My First Safe Spaces

I started considering coming out a little under three years ago at the not-so-tender age of 49. I've known that I'm bi since I was 22 but I stayed closeted out of fear - except to one or two friends at a time - for those decades. I knew, after the 2016 elections, that I couldn't stand on the sidelines anymore. I need to come out. But how? And how to minimize the risk of rejection? Could I have friends in the community who already support me so that I could buffer the blow if my monosexual friends rejected me?

I don't remember what amBi event was my first except that it preceded the first Bi Pride festival, in 2019. It might have been Kai's event at the Silverlake Independent Jewish Community Center, in which she recorded coming out stories in preparation for a dance she was choreographing. It might have been Karaoke in the Valley. It might have been any of several events at Cuties. I just know that amBi gave me the space I needed to explore my identity, find friends in the bi community, and come out to myself as transgender and non-binary. I'll always be grateful for that. Also: along the way, I became a volunteer facilitator for the L.A. LGBT Center's social groups. amBi's Monday night meeting is one of the ones that I regularly facilitate. I love that I get to be of service to the same people who helped me so much :-)

-Michelle
 Los Angeles Chapter