Social Acceptance of Plurality
and Coming Out

We feel strongly about the need to push societal acceptance of plurality. Most people out there, we think, are ignorant of our truths and see only one view of multiplicity simply because there are almost no positive examples of plurality out there, offline. We realize that this is a necessity in many cases: Our state is one of the many that allows involuntary commitment if "it's essential to the patient's well-being," multiples with children stand to lose them, and workers can be fired with no recourse. Still, we cannot see any other way to change public perception other than by offering a concrete example of healthy plurality. We must offer ourselves.

Why would we even suggest such a thing when we have so much to lose? Simple...it's because we have so much to gain. We've already lost many of the rights we'd like to think are ours by birth. We are, in the eyes of the law and of others, mere delusions and daydreams; we do not even exist. Our own personhood has been taken from us. We do not have the right to parent, to work, to love, to live, to be free as we are; we must masquerade as singlets to do so. Everything we have and all that we are is immediately compromised if it becomes known that we are plural. The alternative to this is living a life of lies, pretending to be a single blank face under one birth name, denying, running, hiding. What kind of life is this? What kind of future is this?

We realized very quickly that it is not one that we want to live.

This is why we're so adamant about the need to do something. Our deep shame is that we have absolutely no idea what that "something" is. We don't know what the magic formula is that will solve all our problems and make everyone live happily ever after. In fact, we don't even think that it exists. This is why we take small steps, one at a time. This is why we have practiced coming out to people. This is why we're contacting researchers and asking if they share a similar view. We're shooting in the dark here, going in all sorts of directions and meeting more setbacks than successes simply because if we don't try, we will have failed by default.

Is it an impossible dream? That's beyond our ability to see. Is it worth trying, though? Yes, definitely. More than we can properly put to words.

If, like us, you think that this is a worthy goal, we ask of you: Try. Summon your courage and do all that you can to present yourself as a healthy plural. Help us organize; send us your suggestions; join the Empowered Multiple list and start topics there; most of all, try. Even if you only manage to convince a handful that such a thing is possible, those few people may go on to tell others, and some day small ripples may become waves.