Celebrating Pride, By JJ Aragon

This pride month of June, I am celebrating my tenth year of being out of the closet. At age fifteen, I began to notice my attraction to women. At age seventeen, I came out as bisexual. Today, I am living an open and content life with my partner of five years.

But before all of that, I was blind. My first "coming out" happened three months before anyone expected. What can I say? I was a bouncy baby girl who couldn't wait to see the world, and so what if I was only two and a half pounds!

Throughout childhood and adolescence, I learned some very valuable lessons through my blindness. In elementary school, my classmates would ask me about my cane and the "blank pages" I kept moving my fingers over. I was always encouraged to nicely answer their questions, and as an adult, I still highly value educating sighted people. There were times when I felt that I deserved special treatment because of my blindness. Middle school humbled me, and today I see my blindness as just one part of me, albeit a shaping part. In high school, as I struggled to accept another identity that would make me different, I learned about pride and self-love. I learned that these feelings don't make me selfish or egotistical, but rather compassionate and comfortable in my own skin.

I approach my attraction to men and women the same way I approach my ability to see a small bit out of one eye: with patience, confidence, and humor. A blind person once asked me why I can't just be "normal". I asked why they couldn't open their eyes more.  Some days people will see me wearing a rainbow sash as comfortably as I carry my cane. If I sense discomfort when I first come out to someone, I take care to explain that I much prefer questions over assumptions.

The National Federation of the Blind teaches that we can live the life we want with hope, love, and determination. For my part, I love every part of me, including my blindness and bisexuality. I am determined to live my life with kindness and pride. My hope is to help my Federation family and beyond learn the same. No matter what makes us different or diverse, we in the NFB are all blind or blind at heart. We can apply what we have learned from our blindness to every other area of our life. Please celebrate pride with me.