'Coming out coach' charges women hundreds for support navigating late in life lesbian transitions
After decades of marriage and motherhood, some middle-aged women are spending hundreds of dollars to join online lesbian support groups led by a "coming out coach" to guide them through the process of coming out late in life, according to a New York Times report.Coming out coach Anne-Marie Zanzal charges $400 for a private online membership designed to help "late-blooming" women, some of whom are still married to their longtime husbands, navigate what she calls "sexual identity transitions.""She helped me see that leaving my marriage wasn’t selfish.It was honest.
And my kids are better for it," a testimonial from Zanzal’s website reads.Zanzal also offers a separate 16-week program called "This Authentic Life," which includes live group coaching, individual coaching and access to her "Authentically Us" online community.RELATIONSHIP EXPERT CHALLENGES ONE OF AMERICA'S BIGGEST ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT DIVORCERainbow flag at the Pride London gay and lesbian parade through central London.Pride London (founded in 2004) aims to promote equality and diversity through all of its campaigns.
(In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)According to Zanzal’s website, the program helps LGBTQ+ women unpack heavy questions regarding their sexuality alongside others navigating similar experiences."It is not too late, and you are not too late.Come as you are, and let us walk this part of the road together," Zanzal’s website reads."We were looking for women who came to this the way we did, later in life and carrying a whole history, who would never ask us to explain any of it."Zanzal, who holds a master's degree in divinity from Yale Divinity School, began her "coming out coaching" business in 2018.
She came out at age 52 after being married to a man for nearly 30 years and raising four children with him."I help women come home to themselves — with clarity, self-kindness, and community — so they can live authentically without abandoning the lives and relationships that matter to ...