Villalobos 1

Domonique Villalobos

Jennifer Rodrick

Queer Studies 115

October 1, 2017

The danger of hiding who you are | Morgana Bailey

In viewing The danger of hiding who you are | Morgana Bailey by Ted Talk on YouTube,

I was very surprised of the outcome. I was happy for the speaker, and how she finally felt free.

I admired her bravery and her confidence she presented on stage. It was a tender moment.

The speaker came on to the stage and began to speak. She begins her speech mentioning that she

had lied to some people just previously on the subject of her speech. After that she continues and

hints at her essential claim. Bailey centers her speech on the aspects of hiding your identity and how

conforming to societal way plays into effect. She adds on with her memories on her study abroad

trip 16 years ago. She touched on how she was a carefree spirit who was different. She also

provided pictures to showcase herself and pretty much provide evidence of who she was. Next, she

comes to point of no return, she states she is lesbian. She goes on to say that she hid this part of her

identity for so long was because she was afraid of how people would think and refer to her. So she

decided on conforming and to keep her true identity a secret, especially in her work atmosphere.

Bailey didnt even feel comfortable with being out at work even if there was laws protecting her

because of the stigma. The stigma, of not being accepted among the people you work with and

friends. Furthermore, she even refers to statistics on behalf of life expectancy, health problems and

suicide rates. She makes this awareness to her audience because its important to know that the gay
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communitys health is also an important topic. Then, she goes on to say that her own home town

was on the verge of not accepting the gay community. Her hometown was not going to accept her.

Bailey realized that at this point she hadnt done anything in her power to advocate and it was time

to do something. This occurrence displayed her future intentions, promoting her growth as

character. She then again refers to her study abroad trip, where she wrote down a quote from

Paradise. She explained that she took it as a sign to keep exploring London and to not stay indoors,

completely disregarding the actual message. That this quote was to inspire her to embrace herself

and work on coming out. Concluding, Bailey states that her seclusion was to be no longer and

coming out was the right thing to do. More importantly, she made her coming out in front of her

company, the people she felt that were not going to include her if she revealed her sexuality. Yet, in

the end her audience stood up and I think that it showed that her audience understood her and

supported her. Not only that, but she leaves a message to her audience at a personal level, which is

to be who they are and not be held back, and show your true colors.