This week, PGN is launching a new monthly feature entitled “Day in the Life Of,” tracing the personal and professional stories of some local LGBTs — with multifaceted aims.
First, “Day in the Life Of” is rooted in the notion that all people — from all walks of life, with all levels of involvement in the community, employed or unemployed — have an interesting story to tell. It’s easy for many people, LGBT or not, to get wrapped up in the mundanity of life and lose sight of their own individual uniqueness or the uniqueness of the life they’re living — slogging through the day until they can punch out, or getting bogged down with errands and obligations. Becoming distanced from one’s own individuality, and the potential it fuels, especially in a fast-paced city like ours, isn’t hard to do — but it’s a trend that should be discouraged. So “Day in the Life Of” in one sense is an effort to refocus individual and community attention on the notion that each of us has the ability to make contributions — and those contributions should be valued, no matter their size and scope.
The feature is also an attempt to illustrate just how diverse our LGBT community is. The community is often painted with the same stereotypical brush — producing tiring adages like gay men are hair stylists and lesbians are gym teachers. But the reality is that LGBT people work across every field, from blue-collar to white-collar and everywhere in between. “Day in the Life Of” will show how some members of our community actually spend their days: working behind a desk, bagging groceries, running companies, arguing in a courtroom, slinging drinks or innumerable other activities. PGN staff will spend time with each subject wherever he or she focuses their time — in an office, classroom or other setting — to learn what a day in their life truly is like.
There was a time when LGBT people were forced into certain occupations, and forced out of others. But LGBT young people today deserve to see that sexual orientation or gender identity should not be considered impediments to attaining their goals, whatever they may be. Instead, it is through the telling of these stories that “Day in the Life Of” aims to show that embracing one’s true identity is a step on the path to self-fulfillment.