Next up for New Castle VQ Comes Out – our week-long series honoring National Coming Out Day and LGBT History month – Sandra tells us about her love of a woman in uniform and her unwillingness to let assumptions about her slide now that she has children. ~ The Editors
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PHOTO CREDIT: SANDRA TELEP
When did you come out (or how many times, if it’s been a multilayered process)?
I guess I officially came out in my sophomore year of college. Also known as 1999.
What got you out?
This super cute campus cop swept me off my feet and I suddenly wanted to shout it from the rooftops. A woman in uniform still has a pretty powerful effect on me.
How long did the process take ’til you were out to family/friends/world?
By my Junior year, I was not only out to family and friends but had transferred out of my Catholic college, become a Women’s Studies major, become the president of my new school’s campus LGBT group, and appeared on the local news defending my group’s right to use university funds to present a sex-toy safety workshop to students. So, it certainly took less than a year.
What’s easier about your life now that you’re out?
It’s authentic. It feels right.
What’s harder?
There are an awful lot of teaching moments that present themselves. When met with an opportunity to educate, I try to take it but it can be exhausting.
How are you out in a whole new way with kids?
Parenthood has it’s own kind of closet. Add to that the fact that we are a Mom and Dad headed family and I can feel like my queerness disappears sometimes. Of course, on the other hand, modeling pride in our family and who I am is more important than ever with little eyes watching my every move, so, I don’t let some of the assumptions slide that I might have in the past.
PHOTO CREDIT: SANDRA TELEP
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