SOL (COPY CAT)

Sol, who uses she/they pronouns, is a vibrant creative individual within Second Life. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community she embraces her pansexuality. Sol has passionately been DJing at Pride at Home within SL for the past two years, eagerly anticipating their third consecutive year in spreading joy and inclusivity through the power of music.

I’ll give you some background context before I go into my coming out story. I started playing soccer at a very young age and played for about 16 years. I was super dedicated when it came to sports and watched the United States women’s national soccer team religiously. These women were my idols back then. A lot of the girls on my club soccer team also looked up to players like Megan Rapinoe, Abby Wambach, or Alex Morgan. Occasionally those players would be brought up in conversation at soccer practice, and there would be comments about their play style and their skills. However, for me it was a little more than that.

I had come across the 2012 ESPN’s Body Issue of Abby Wambach. You could see every piece of muscle on her body. I had watched some of her interviews. I noted the way she flipped her short hair to the side, and the way she smiled. She was and still is so hot. At the time I was having a full on gay crisis.

My come out story takes place at my neighborhood’s local Subway Sandwich restaurant. My dad and I were on our way home from an evening practice. While we were in line there was a random interview with Abby Wombach broadcasting on the store radio. My dad and I both bonded over watching world cups together so the two of us decided to listen and dine in. That’s when he brought up something Abby did in the last match.

I said, “Yeah, I really like her.”

My dad laughed, “I know, I do too.”

“No, I really really like her.”

I remember staring at him prolonging the awkward silence, at some point he would put two and two together. He seemed kinda confused, it was perfect. The gears were turning in his head and then I knew the exact moment it clicked. You could see it in his eyes.

“Are you coming out to me right now?”

My dad was very accepting, and my mom was more skeptical at first. I was honestly just very lucky and privileged to have the experience I had coming out. I’d later discover that gender doesn’t really matter when it comes to my sexual orientation.

Instead of coming out, I’d like to live our lives without the assumption of sexual orientation based on gender or gender based on appearance. I hope people can live peacefully and choose how they want to be identified without the triumph that may come with it.