Have you brought someone home for Christmas? Have you celebrated the holidays with your family and a significant other? I'm 44 and I have not. Kinda sad, I know, on many parts. Not only is it a little lonely not having a partner for the holidays, but it's also all the questions you have to answer as to why there is no one else.
But what if the new person you are bringing home is yourself?
Christmas has always been a spectacle in my family …
…with the house all decorated with the same homemade projects from mine and my sisters’ elementary school days, sneakily hiding presents around the house from each other, and opening my 12 Days of Disney Socks Advent Calendar each day leading up to Christmas (which you can catch on my Instagram).
Christmas is my favorite day of the year, maybe second next to the New York City Pride March. – GLAAD.org
Owen Logios, a GLAAD Campus Ambassador, recently shared her story of going home to her Christmas stocking. "My whole family has had the same stockings ever since I was born, with a Christmas image and our names embroidered at the top." But, what happens to that tradition when your name changes? Two years ago Owen went through his transition. So coming home with a new person was Owen coming home as himself.
As mentioned above, it's hard sometimes coming home to see extended family that has not been there for all of our lives and their transitions, may it be transitioning genders, coming out of the closet, becoming single, losing a job, being diagnosed, all of these very emotional items come back to the surface when you have to talk to this cousin, that aunt, and so on.
Ever since I came out, December has been tougher than years past. I get to come home from school after a long Fall semester and see my family, but since I am not out to my extended family, I get misgendered and have to hear my old name constantly at family parties. Going from my college environment where I’m consistently validated in my identity to one where I practically go back in the closet is confusing and frustrating to deal with. – GLAAD.org
Coming home for the holidays, the simple little things matter. Last year, my mother asked me what I wanted for Christmas. All I wanted was our traditional stocking filled like it always was growing up. She always put in a PEZ dispenser, a little LEGO box, sometimes a matchbox car, a tooth brush, and a candy bar. It made my Christmas just like all the others in the past.
I could definitely relate to Owen and his stocking happiness. This year, his parents made a touching change.
"the stocking just read “O”, the nickname my family calls me"
Great job mom and dad, and thanks Owen for sharing your touching share.
In the title, I stated "Bringing Home Someone New For Christmas? What If The New Person Is You?" Owen is not a "new" person, but the same child her parents raised, but just a lot happier being known as O.
For Owen's full post, head over to GLAAD.org and check out his Twitter @easybake_owen
For more information on how to better support the transgender community, check out GLAAD’s Tips for Allies of Transgender People.
h/t: GLAAD.org
Whether one goes anywhere for
Whether one goes anywhere for Christmas or not, or has a partner or not, is secondary to trying to do at least one good thing for someone else, a stranger or someone you know (even if you think they're not the nicest people), a charity……. It's the best way to keep/restore the meaning at Christmas.
Who are all these people who
Who are all these people who go "home for the holidays" ?? I swear, I don't know anybody who does that. Does everyone not in my social circle live in a Hallmark movie ? As for me, my mother and stepfather are such dirtbags I'd never give them the pleasure of my company.