Bring National Coming Out Day Into the Classroom

By Raelee Sweet, Assistant Manager of Education for It Gets Better

Next Saturday is National Coming Out Day, a day to celebrate self-acceptance and finding supportive communities where you can be your authentic self. This annual holiday honors the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for LGBTQ+ rights. National Coming Out Day means a lot of different things for a lot of different people, but one message remains true: we deserve to be ourselves. 

This NCOD, we encourage educators and community leaders to bring an activity from one of our EduGuides into your classroom, club meeting, or community event. 

Here are some 45 minute EduGuide activities that I recommend for NCOD:

• For exploring confidence in your identity, check out Living Your Truth – Lesson #3: Symbols & Self Care

• For combating stigma, check out our imi mental health EduGuide: Lesson #4: Understanding Internalized Stigma

• To hear stories of family support, check out Passion. Power. Performance. – Lesson #2: Courtney Ryan

• For some queer history, check out Fearless – Lesson #5: Virginia Uribe.

Some resources to share with the LGBTQ+ teens in your lives:

• For more stories of hope and resilience – It Gets Better Stories
• For self-guided activities to better navigate identity and stress – imi.guide, developed by Hopelab with It Gets Better and Center Link.

• For daily youth empowerment activities within an app – Glo, developed by It Gets Better Canada, available in English and French.

• To find your local LGBTQ+ center – Centerlink
• For additional resources, visit itgetsbetter.org/get-help

If you use one of our EduGuides, we would love your feedback and testimonials! Please fill out this survey and you’ll receive a gift from It Gets Better!