National Coming Out Day falls on Oct. 11 every year. It’s meant to spread LGBTQ+ awareness and support anyone “coming out of the closet.”
Vice President of Marketing and Communications Callie Birdsall said Encircle is Utah’s largest LGBTQ+ youth organization. It serves youth, young adults and families with a variety of resources, including a staff of therapists.
Encircle opened its E. Center St. facility in Heber last year. Birdsall said this year it has had 941 visits to the home and provided 583 therapy sessions for individuals, families and couples.
Executive Director Alex Cutini said Encircle is a celebration of authenticity.
“For many years, I thought that authenticity was something that was kind of like a personality trait, like you were an authentic person, or you were not an authentic person,” he said. “But the more I think about it, and the more I grow in my experience as a human being, I realize that authenticity is a practice. It's a choice that you have to make every single day.”
Growing up in Brazil, Cutini said he felt as if he was wearing invisible armor that was very heavy psychologically and emotionally.
“I was constantly aware of everything that I was doing, how I was moving my hands, how I was using my voice, how people were looking at me. Did they think I was gay?" he said. "All of that was so exhausting, carrying around that armor that you think is protecting you is actually so heavy that it's keeping you from flying.”
Cutini said many LGBTQ+ youth feel like this and Encircle provides a space to shed their own armor.
Birdsall said the organization also helps families and the community build healthier relationships.
“Oftentimes we might have parents who maybe their child has recently come out, and they're really ready to support them, but they don't know what that looks like,” she said.
Birdsall said Encircle Heber’s Halloween Carnival Friday night is a great entry point into the community. All ages are welcome to the free event from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. There will be pizza, drinks, treats, pumpkin painting and carnival games.
