Day 3 of Culture Week has been great (despite a fundamental lack of baked goods after Monday’s cupcakes which will surely be rectified during Friday’s food celebrations), even though I was dreading it slightly.

Why was I dreading it?

Talking about LGBTQ+ issues is easy for me.

Waxing lyrical about the importance and power of self-identification is like second nature.

Speaking openly about my own queerness? … a lot easier when you flippantly offer to answer the question ‘What’s the Q?’ and only later realise that that means actually answering the question, not just making the hilarious joke.

However, being passionate about things make it really hard for me to not talk about things, even when I’m uncomfortable.

Especially when it’s something that people generally, especially those outside of the LGBTQ+ community, do not frequently talk about and are not likely to have a great degree of exposure to.

Culture Week is all about talking about, experiencing, and sharing culture in all its definitions and forms. To not take the opportunity to share this part of my identity and culture seems a shame, and it was truly a real joy to take a chance to talk about my experience of queerness.

My experience, from on some level always knowing I was difference all the way to experiencing frequent reminders of that difference, is one story of many. It’s one that may resonate with people and it’s one that people may relate to.

Telling stories, as an actor and marketer, is my bread and butter. Because of this, it’s important to keep in mind that no one story speaks for, or to, all, and that the best stories are part of the bigger picture.

Culture Week has been a real celebration of this notion of multiple stories.

Our external and internal speakers are reminding us that there is nothing audacious or controversial about seeing people as a complete picture rather than making assumptions based on unquestioned and unconscious biases.

Navigating a world where there is a very specific and limited idea of the default norm is difficult, impossible and even dangerous at times. That is why having conversations like these with friends, with family, and in workplace can be a real cornerstone to progress.

The best part of the talk were the conversations that happened in that room (and hopefully ones that will continue to happen afterwards!). Seeing people engage with a world and a story that they may or may not have experience with was incredibly heartening.

If we keep sharing each other’s stories, listening to them, and truly engaging with them, there will be something that we can all take from each other.

I cannot wait to see more sharing and celebration during Culture Week and beyond.