When I came out as gay to my family I felt so much better and less alone. I have been a lesbian my whole life and I have hid this from my family because I was afraid of not being accepted. I used to pretend to have crushes on guys just so I would be seen as normal. But this made me feel extremely alone and my mental health suffered. Now that I came out I can finally be myself and talk about girls I like. I am so much happier and my mental health has improved a lot. My family is very supportive and I’m thankful they love and accept me. (F/Lesbian)
Story #2482
When I came out for the first time I was 17. I had forced myself to have crushes on guys before but I slowly realised that I was in fact a lesbian. I first came out to my best friend who I had a crush on. I was so nervous, but she took it really well and it turned out she is also a lesbian and we started kissing. Unfortunately my mum walks in as we are doing this and is really shocked but supportive. Overall I couldn’t have had a better coming out and my girlfriend is amazing. (F/17/Lesbian)
Story #2481
When I came out I told my 3 best friends first. I came out as lesbian, friend 1 also came out as a lesbian. Friend 2 came out as bisexual and friend 3 came out as pansexual. Friend 1 and I are now dating and friends 2 and 3 are dating. (F/Lesbian)
Story #2477
When I came out I was in a classroom full of now-former toxic friends, including my toxic crush who commented, “Wow, everyone in the room is so godd*mn gay” after someone else had mentioned their same-gender ex. Little middle school me, for whatever reason, decided it would be a wonderful idea to randomly blurt out, “That’s me!” Cue absolute silence in the classroom. I had been working out my sexuality for months now, after realizing my strange obsession with my friend wasn’t simply an obsession, it was, in fact, a huge-a** crush. The kids in that classroom went on to say some pretty awful things to me that year, after finding out who exactly my crush was, causing me to switch schools. This was the best choice I ever made, as now I have the best friends a queer little dork like me could ask for, who will support and love me no matter what my sexuality may be. (Female/non-binary/5/Pansexual)
Story #2475
When I came out I was looking with my mom at pride flags on the internet when I found a picture with a bisexual flag on it and I said, “That’s my flag.” And then she just said, “Okay, I never knew.” And then we just continued with looking at the flags. I was quite comfortable in that moment because my mom has always been queer positive. She is cis-hetero. I haven’t come out yet to my dad yet. I have come out to one of my pansexual and bigender friend that I have a crush on. She’s very nice. (F/10/Bisexual)
Story #2473
When I came out, I came out to my friends first. Most of them I already know were somewhere on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, while some I didn’t and I was happy to learn what they were too! On the last day of school we decided to buy a bunch of pride flags and pins (since our last day was June 1st). It was awesome! We got a lot of positive feedback! Our straight ally friend even made us “gaycelets” (bracelets in the form of our specific pride flags). (F/12/Pansexual/Demisexual/Demiromantic)
Story #2470
When I came out, it was back in January. I have actually documented my story not too long ago, but that was before I came out to my dad and sister. Me and family were going to a pride parade (my first one!!) and before we left, I sat my dad down, showed him my flag, and told him I was aroace. He said that he kinda knew already because of my disinterest in romance. He said he obviously still loved me and didn’t say anything that I was too young because he knows that I know best. I was so happy! When I went to the parade, my sister noticed it but didn’t ask about it. Just remember you’re valid! And to my ace-spec and aro-spec fam: You are totally part of the community! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! (F/13/Aroace)
Story #2464
When I came out to my family, I was in an arranged marriage with my husband. I didn’t feel very comfortable when I was young and I was living in an unaccepting family even though I hadn’t come out, yet . I had a friend who was trans and they would never call them by their real name and they eventually banned me from talking about them. When I got older I ignored my feelings but once I had my second child I was really feeling out of place. I talked to one of my distant cousins who was gay. I figured out my real feelings and in my realization, I had an affair with one of my lesbian friends from college. When my husband found out he was very angry but also understanding about my sexuality and later came out as pan. This was a very emotional time of my life but I eventually got through it and married the woman of my dreams (college wifey). (F/56/Lesbian)
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 #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)