By Shamica Gibson

Layshia Clarendon is unapologetic about her lesbian identity.  As a proud member of the LGBT community, Layshia embraces her role as one of the LGBT movement’s most vocal advocates.

Clarendon proudly uses her platform to bolster her support for the LGBT community, whether it’s a post on social media sporting a t-shirt that denotes her pride in being gay, or an interview where she unashamedly avows her affiliation with Gay Pride.

“It’s always being unapologetic and who I am,” Clarendon said. “It’s just being excited and proud about my identity.”

While Layshia asserts that being faithful to one’s identity is essential to having gay pride, she admits that coming out does not always come without consequences.  The California native recalled a time when she wasn’t comfortable revealing her sexual identity.

“When I was in high school I didn’t feel like it was [necessarily] safe in my household to come out,” she said.  “You have to find your own timing.  You have to find a person, a community, some kind of group or space where if you do come out you will be safe.”

Being in Atlanta is a liberating experience for many in the LGBT community.  Clarendon expressed feeling relief living in Atlanta because of its heterogeneous mixture.  Seeing individuals of a similar race as her own provides a sense of rejuvenation for Layshia.  Instead of being the pariah she once was when she resided in racially homogenous towns, she meshes with a racially diverse Atlanta LGBT community.

“I’m definitely most excited about the racial aspect of Atlanta because it’s the place that I’ve felt the most at home,” she explained.  “It’s [even] psychologically healthy just seeing people like myself.”

Pinpointing the LGBT community is a difficult task because it consists of a diverse group of individuals.  The community does not only represents those who identify as gay or lesbian; it also comprises individuals who are gender nonconforming.  In fact, one’s sexual orientation may have nothing to do with his or her affiliation with the LGBT community.

Layshia has not been shy about conveying her feelings concerning inclusion within the LGBT community.  Previously she has expressed her discontentment with the way both straight and gay people have ignored different groups’ association with the LGBT community.  Racial and class hierarchies are factors she believes are typically ignored within the gay community, in addition to transgender individuals when having conversations about the LGBT community.

According to Clarendon, “The misconception is that we’re all alike and we don’t have a plethora of identities and races and sexualities.” She added, “Our community is pretty varied.  It’s hard to nail down our entire community because a lot of people’s identities are pretty personal to them.”

Layshia hopes to be a positive model for those who fear that coming out will negatively impact their lives.  She attributes her willingness to stand in solidarity with the LGBT community to her desire to prove that it is possible for an openly gay person to be attached to a positive image while being successful.