When I Came Out

When I came out my friends were shocked. I am a soldier with over ten tours overseas, with over half being in war zones. I am what most would consider a man’s man but gay I am and coming out.

When I came out to my closest group of friends, I kinda just said, “I’m gay.” They said, “Cool, same!” Turns out two of my friends are bisexual and another is gay, while the other two are straight. The gay friend and I are currently dating.

When I came out, it was mainly through social media for the past year or so, by “liking” gay sites or retweeting gay-themed tweets, and making it obvious in Facebook, Google+ profiles. It’s worked out quite well.

When I came out to my best friend, who is eight years older than me and the opposite sex, he asked me if I had just realized it or if I had known for a while. When I told him the latter, he just replied, “So then are you going to celebrate by banging SOME CHICKS?!” Honestly his humour was exactly what I needed.

When I came out seven months ago, I talked and talked, while my dad, pale in the face, stared through me. He hugged me afterwards, and told me he loved me, but after seven months now, it hurts to see the fear and ignoring-of-the-truth that still lingers in his eyes.

When I came out to my first relative as bi, it was my grandmother over the phone. She was very patient and listened to everything I had to say. Then she told me it was a sin, God wouldn’t create someone like that, I need to do more soul searching. But she said she still loves me. She was quick to hang up, but it was better than I expected at least.

When I came out as a trans woman to my best friend, she was very accepting and even came out to me as pansexual. Over a year since then, and we’ve been a couple for nearly 8 months. I don’t regret a single moment of our relationship.

When I came out, one of the first people I told was a close friend. Her reaction was to say, “Awesome! Now we can talk about boys together, yay!!” Best reaction ever.

When I came out to my friend, she jumped off the couch with a huge smile and said, “Well, duh!” and then we just went back to talking about food.

When I came out, I said, “Hey, you know how I said I’m not gay? Well I’m not. I’m bi.” And my dad started laughing because of course that’s how I came out. My parents were both really supportive and so was my best friend — I’m incredibly lucky.