When I came out, it was 6th grade and I was always called gay and zesty for the way I acted and sounded and for the things I did because it was middle school after all. I wanted to fit in and be straight but I knew I had lots of attraction to guys and no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t be truly straight. Me and my best friend talked about our opinions on relationships with girls, understanding gay, and even acted and joked about being gay for fun. We stopped this for a couple months because we didn’t actually want to be gay but to my surprise, one day in March, after he was acting weird for the whole day, told me he was bisexual. Hearing him come out to me gave me the courage to realize I was bi too and we are both coming out to the rest of the world now. 💖💜💙 (M/12/Gay/bisexual)
Story #2625
When I came out I was in the sixth grade. I told my mom and she was incredibly supportive. I eventually told my friends and they were also very supportive. I haven’t told my dad yet because he is one of those very homophobic macho-type men. I’ll eventually do it though. (M/14/Gay)
Story #2597
When I came out I had a really supportive family. Me and my dad were just talking about my day and then all the sudden my dad asked me if I was gay. I think he got the idea because I was reading all these queer stories and like buying pride flags. When I told him he said, “Well, I’m proud of you.” And I felt really accepted. Soon after I came out to my siblings. It took some time for them to understand; everything can be very confusing especially at a young age. (F/she/they/Lesbian/gay)
Story #2594
When I came out it was 7th grade and one of my best friends sat next to me. Then the annoying kid just wrote “gay” on a piece of paper and that made me a little sad cause he always made fun of people for anything. My friend saw it and then just whispered, “Are you gay?” Then I got shaky but then said, “Yes I am and I kind of have a crush on this cute boy”. From that day I have only ever told two of my best friends and have supported me all the way. Thank you so much for show your support and compassion that helps me. (M/Gay)
Story #2591
When I came out, I was around 31 and it was to my coworkers. It was spectacular and they even threw a party for me the next day. My parents are a bit skeptical but they support me nonetheless. (M/42/Gay)
Story #2577
When I came out, I sitting on the porch swing with my older sister as we shared stories from our day. I hesitated with a knot in my stomach for a while before finally summoning the courage to say, “I need to tell you something. You know {my friend’s name}? Well, we are dating. I’m gay.” My sister turned to me with a big smile. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder, pulling me close as she whispered, “Thank you for being you.” I’ll never forget that. (M/17/Gay)
Story #2575
When I came out I knew I was trans and had always been a boy. I had a bag of safety emergency stuff, and my mom found it and looked through it and it had info on me being trans. She kinda outed me to my dad ASAP (I’m a little upset). We talked that evening all together, and I kinda had to come out. It went overall well; my parents are still learning and had to challenge everything I said (quite annoying), but they love me and it is working out. Good luck to you all!!!! (Transgender [FtM]/13/Gay/bisexual)
Story #2572
When I came out, I was in the car with my mom coming back from a long road trip. We were stuck in standstill traffic for about an hour and were just chatting until the topic of dating came up. I’d been going out with a guy for a few months into freshman year of high school and had been keeping it very secret as I was still figuring out my sexuality. My mom asked if we were dating since he and I had been hanging out a lot, to which I responded, “…Yes.” She asked if I was gay. “Yes.” She was cool with it and proud of me for confiding with her, and asked if I knew about my deceased uncle, who was also gay, to which I responded, “WHAT?!?” I probably would’ve been comfortable coming out if I had known that. Still gotta come out as nonconforming though. (Gender nonconforming/21/Gay)
Story #2538
When I came out to my mom, it was an accident actually lol. We were talking about movie characters and I accidentally told her I wasn’t into girls. She was super awesome about it, as I knew she would be, and then I told my dad, who was also lovely about it. I started dating a guy pretty soon after that, so that’s when I socially came out. (M/17/Gay)
Story #2532
When I came out, it was in the 8th grade. I was hanging out with my cousins and they were talking about how friendly gay people were and I did the ahem noise and pointed at me. When they saw me, they gasped and hugged me tight as I cried, knowing I was supported. I still haven’t come out to my parents; they’re super religious. (M/13/Gay)