National coming out day

National Coming Out day, the idea behind it, is to promote a safe world for LGBT individuals to live truthfully and openly. Sunday in Salisbury,  the Lower Shore LGBTQ Coalition partnered up with the Faith Lutheran Church to help promote awareness for their cause.    

For someone coming out, a safe and supportive environment is critical. The Coalition helps provide that.

“We have several individuals on the coalition, psychologists, professors, counselors, social workers or just community folks or pastors who could serve as a safe space to talk to someone,” said Chalarra Sessoms, co-founder of the coalition.

 Not only does the coalition provide the resources , they also provide training so that more safe spaces can be created.

“The coalition, I think it was two Fridays ago, we had a safe spaces training as well and about 30 professionals in the community came and participated to learn more about how you can have a space in the community,” Sessoms said.

A safe space is somewhere were someone can come and understand that there will be confidentiality, support  and no judgement. Without them, those desperate for a sense of community, or even an outlet to speak out to, may be at risk

“We know that through statistics there are a lot of risk factors for LGBTQ especially youth and young adults as far as homelessness and substance abuse,” said Jennifer Riebe, president and co-founder of the coalition.

The coaltion says if you’d like more information on how to participate in their meetings, or learn more about creating safe spaces you can find that either on their social media accounts  or on their website.