When I came out I was 16. Been many years in the making and eventually only said something because I was afraid to start college with the dead weight of my old name with me. Things aren’t perfect yet but I’m finally getting somewhere 🙂 hoping to start T in a couple months 😉 (M/18/Transgender/straight)
Story #2461
When I came out, I was in a chicken coop. (Don’t ask.) I told my closest friends and they were all super cool about it. I’m pretty sure some of them knew already! Later, I taped a sapphic pride sticker to my school computer and someone noticed. She asked me what the flag was and I explained it to her, to which she responded, ‘So you’re questioning but you like woman?’ I smiled and said, ‘Couldn’t have said it better.’ (F/12/Sapphic)
Story #2460
When I came out it was to my friend. She was openly bisexual so I felt comfortable telling her. I told her and she completely supported me. I tried to tell my other friend but I didn’t know she was homophobic. I told her and she flipped out. She didn’t want to talk to me so I realized she wasn’t a real friend. (12/Lesbian/gay)
Story #2459
When I came out, I first came out to my brother. At the time, both of us were living as girls. I built a little house in minecraft with my pride flag as the color scheme, and he did the same. We later talked about it on a walk, and then came out to our other family together. (Masc enby/15/Aroace/polyam)
Story #2458
When I came out it was… different. I have a friend who introduced me to the LGBTQ+ community and helped me try and figure myself out a bit. I shuffled through several things before I found something that fit, and it was rather simple after that. I easily came out to online friends and friends who were LGBTQ+ themselves. My parents were a different story, being strongly Christian, I was worried they may be homophobic or something along those lines. They definitely suspected something, and my mom asked me if I was a lesbian once or twice. They found a Aroace flag on one of my devices and I had to explain. They were really chill, though I haven’t come out to them as Genderfae yet, I feel like it’ll go well when the time comes. To quote my mother’s reaction “It’s fine not to like anyone, why would we care about that anyways?” I would also like to say I am a proud Christian as well, and not all Christians are automatically homophobic 😀 (Genderfae/14/Aroace)
Story #2457
When I came out everything felt weirder. I feel like everyone I told (myself included) just tried to avoid the topic. I felt like I was half in and half out of the ‘closet’. Different people in my life responded differently and knew different amounts: my mom knew but didn’t think that nonbinary people could have gender dysphoria, my dad sort of knew but thought it was ‘just a phase’ and didn’t take me very seriously, my dad’s partner was supportive, my mom’s partner didn’t know and thought that ‘there’s no possible way that there are that many transgender people. I mean, there’s always going to be one or two, but…’, and so one. I was (and still am) so scared of rejection. I came to a point where I felt that I had ‘come out’ too much to pretend it had never happened yet too far to fully come out without making it seem like I was craving attention, or doing too much. Because I never knew how to properly come out, no one knows my full identity, just that I use they/them pronouns (sort of), that I don’t dress femininely (at least most of the time), and that I wasn’t straight (even though I never clearly stated my orientation). (Nonbinary Genderflor Genderflux Trans/11/Arospec Ace-spec Abroromantic Lesbian)
Story #2456
When I came out my friends and I were walking through the halls of our school. I already knew they were both bisexual so I knew I could trust them. They were so supportive about it. I go to church and I have friends at my school that go to the same church so I didn’t want to tell them. One day I was talking with my friends (my church friends were there) and someone brought up the topic about being part of the LGBTQ+ community. One of my friends asked me, “Aren’t you bi?” I panicked because my church friends were there. I said, “Well yeah, but I don’t want my parents to find out.” They were all super supportive about it and I think i might tell my parents. (F/12/Bisexual)
Story #2455
When I came out I was 29 (it was 1985). My father had just died in an accident and that forced me to confront being gay and moving forward to live my true life. I knew I was gay when I was 13, but repressed it through HS, college, and my 20’s. I didn’t date women. I was just a solo person, with many friends, who stayed busy with other activities. I’m 66 now, married to a long-time partner. I envy the youth of today. I still sometimes struggle when I recall the pain of hiding from everyone including myself for so many years. (M/66/Gay)
Story #2454
When I came out, it was really scary. I had other gender-queer friends, and my parents called them by their preferred names and pronouns, so how hard could it be? I had spent all day writing “I am genderfluid and I like girls” out of lego, on a huge lego base-plate. When the time finally came, I called my dad into my room, and whipped the sign from the its hiding place. Turns out he (and my mum) already knew! The next day, they both called me into their room “to have a little chat”. Turns out all they wanted to do was literally pry every last detail out of me. I couldn’t help but cry, as they kept asking, asking, asking. Now, a few months later, they still won’t let me buy any gender-neutral or boy clothes, and are actually against me getting anything that relates to pride. I tried to make my room (which was annoying girly) more gender-neutral, but all my parents did was question every item I hid, or threw away. So now, I live my life constantly having to pretend I’m something I’m not, without enough courage to tell them anything truthful ever again. (Genderfluid/Omniromantic [I think])
Story #2453
When I came out I didn’t want to. My trusted friend told everyone I was bisexual. I got so mad at her. When I confronted her about it, she said, “I swear on god I didn’t do it.” Then today during class she said, “I’m sorry I put the email out there. I shouldn’t have believed that rumor about you liking my crush” and she wants to be my friend again but I said no. She violated my trust and because of her someone told me I should die. But all of my friends support me.