D K H G Y ...The code

Haha I was reminded of this moment of my coming out process a little while ago and thought I would share...
Coming out is a challenge...no matter how you slice it. It's much like telling any secret to someone you care deeply for. Sharing that deepest darkest heart story.
Whether it is to your closest friends or family members, the butterflies begin weeks in advance. That uneasy throw-up feeling deep in the pit of your belly. You play each outcome over and over and over in your head and hope and pray that the end result is not like the horrible stories you hear occurring throughout our country. Those uninformed SOBs reacting harshly, lashing out and blaming and kicking and screaming and hurting.
My coming out has nothing in comparison to what others have gone through. But it has been the exact same feeling when I do get to that point where I have to actually speak the words...I get the butterflies. I get the racing heartbeats. The dry mouth and there is usually tears...not unusual for those who know me well.
But there is nothing more memorable than my first few coming out experiences. I am so thankful that I was in Medora and surrounded by great friends when I was finally able to verbalize who I was deep down.
Now I had struggled with this for quite sometime leading up to my summer of '93. I was in the Badlands of North Dakota performing nightly in the Greatest Show in the West!! And it was this summer that I decided to take a break and not work during the day and just perform the show at night. It was during this respite that feelings started to surface. Thankfully I had many around me who were so supportive and not shocked when I finally did come out, not only to myself, but also to them.
One friend in particular made the comment, "Honey, we are not shocked at all. In fact, many of us have been waiting for this moment for you. We used to have discussions about you and when it would happen. We used to talk in code around you."
I gave her a puzzled look. I chuckled as I could only imagine what those discussions sounded like.
She continued, "We used to say D K H G Y," and then in this type of sing songy form of verse, she sang, "B H W"
I looked at her and was like, "What? I don't get it."
She smiled at me and said, " Doesn't know he's gay yet."
And began to sing to me, "But he will!!!!!"

Funniest story of my life.
And it brings such levity to my life and to those I am mentoring through the process. And it helped me make it through...knowing that I wore this adventure on my sleeve. If so many knew it just by meeting me, how could anyone else be blind to who I was?