Here I am trying to write my first ever blog post and my girlfriend is trying to extract my DNA. Professor Brian Cox showed her how to do it on TV last night and she's now threatening to clone me. I co-operated so she'll make my dinner. I'm also kind of hoping that my DNA is rainbow coloured... That would be cool for LGBT History month!
We're now at the beginning of February, a chance for us to celebrate inspirational members of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender community. It's LGBT History Month and it's never looked so beautiful!
I feel there's a change, a positive movement towards acceptance, inclusion and honesty. I'd like to celebrate that. I've not always felt like this though. I used to think I was the only one. The only gay in the village.
Yeah, I knew KD Lang was my homegirl and Ellen was too but they were celebrities. I was hardly going to see them around my local Spar. They seemed so far away. I remember when I first realised I might be gay. It was a proper #FML moment!
"Hang on a minute" I thought, "I'm female, mixed race and now gay! Nice one!... NOT!". I didn't realise I wasn't the only one. I didn't realise it was ok and that the world was going to change. It got better.
That's why I want to follow the lead of Jodie Foster, Frank Ocean, Karis from Stooshe and my mate Debbie. They all have one thing in common, they are proud of who they are and they've all recently 'come out' or, as the rapper Speech Debelle quite rightly pointed out, they've 'let us in' (Speech is a poet so she's deep and meaningful like that). They didn't have to share their story with us, they chose to - and in doing that I'm sure they've helped countless other people come to terms with who they are too.
I'm inspired, I'm going to do the same. With the help of the 1Xtra documentary team I'm recording a collection of stories with one thing in common. Everyone telling their story will be a member of the LGBT community and they'll be 'coming out' or... 'letting us in'. The more the merrier! So if you fancy sharing your story here's the link to get involved.
The documentary is only an hour long so unfortunately we won't be able to feature every story but I can guarantee your contribution will be very much appreciated. I'll read it remembering how hard and scary it can be and I'll be looking back at the 14-year-old version of me thinking "You are definitely not alone Adele!". Thank you in advance for sharing your story with me, I hope you enjoy mine!
In the meantime, we can all enjoy Frank Ocean's open letter from the heart. Happy LGBT Month!
Right, I'm off to see how my clone is coming along.