So our one and only GLBT-friendly club is hosting a Gender Bender Ball this Saturday. I'm going one way or the other, but I'm debating whether to go en femme or not. I'm very much closeted - aside from folks on here, only my wife, therapist, and one very trusted friend know that I dress as Jamie more than once for Halloween years ago.
The main reason I'm very much closeted is professional. I live in an extremely conservative town: College Station, TX, home of Texas A&M University and frequently referred to by LGBT folks as "Closet Station". I'm a computer tech for the local school district, and assigned to 4 of the 8 elementary schools, so there's the worry that a "concerned parent" would raise questions about the possibility I could "corrupt" their children. With Texas being an at-will employment state, they may not be able to fire me for being a CD, but they can easily find another reason if they really want to.
If this were 10-15 years ago, before camera phones and Facebook, I would probably go en femme without too much hesitation. As it stands now though, I worry.
Although I'm straight, my wife is bi, and has been getting more active in the local LGBT community lately. I've been supporting her in this, and trying to help out as much as I can as well, because God knows this community needs it. All of the tips from the drag show that's happening as part of the festivities go to benefit our local Pride Community Center, where my wife is a board member. I'm not debating whether to join the drag show, just attend en femme to show my support for the event and especially for the local trans community.
Ironically, I have no problem showing public support for LGBT causes (one glance at my FB timeline recently would show that), but public CD steps over a line where it's hard to play it off as, "I'm just doing this to show support".
I'm really feeling a bit torn. Thoughts?