When I came out to my best friend it felt the hardest thing in the world to do. He was very supportive, though. He would invite me for long walks late at night and we would talk for hours. After several talks he told me he was gay too. I always knew and that’s why I made the first step. Nonetheless our families don’t know yet; we aren’t strong enough to cope with the fact that they’d disown us. (M/22)
Story #1878
When I came out as bi at age 70 to my wife of 46 years she just said, “I’ve known for 40 years. Do you want to leave me?” “No, I said I just wanted you to know.” I then told my 3 adult children; all were unconcerned and supportive. I can’t believe I held this in all my life. What a sense of freedom. BTW I have no intention of acting on my gay side and my interest in gay porn is all but gone. (M/70/Bi)
Story #1876
When I came out it was to one of my friends during recess. I already told someone else, and she acted like nothing changed, when I told the other girl at recess she was so excited that she thought it was a good idea to tell everyone in the whole school by yelling it through the hallways. Now everybody knows that I like boys and I get made fun of all the time. Luckily I have a group of supportive friends who still love me for who I am! (M/12/Gay)
Story #1875
When I came out I was at my grandma’s eighty-year party when I called my friend (who previously told me she was bi) and I simply told her that I was bi. She was so happy and I felt so good by her reaction and by finally having told someone about it. A couple of weeks after that I told her I was actually gay and I finally told almost all of my friends and got the most amazing reactions that I could’ve asked for. I still have to tell my family. It is difficult but I know that it’ll happen eventually, and I’ll finally be completely myself. (M/21/Gay)
Story #1874
When I came out last night, my mom found out my twitter account and how I’m open to everyone that I’m gay. I’m still numb at the moment because my mom told me that she won’t judge me because at the end of the day, she’s still my mother, although she told me to attend counseling with her and my father, to attend a Christian retreat, and even to pray. I’m not against it because I know deep inside me that I have a true relationship with my God. What hurts me is that people thinks that it’s my choice to be like this, that I have a choice to be straight or whatever but deep inside I know I’m not being true to myself. I know they won’t understand where I’m coming from because after all, they haven’t experienced it anyways. I’m happy being gay, I’m free, I can be myself, but sometimes I wonder, how does it feel to be a straight person without the judgment of the people around you? (M/24/Gay)
Story #1869
When I came out I had a boyfriend and he lived away from me. Every weekend he was going to visit me and my mother thought it was strange… and she asked me why he was always coming to my home. I created courage and said, “Because he’s my boyfriend.” She was shocked. (M/36/Gay)
Story #1866
When I came out I was pretty scared at first. My best friend was coming over for a sleepover. He saw a photo of gay guys on Instagram and was disgusted by it. I asked him would he still like me if I was gay and he said idk. Later we started talking about girls at school and he asked me to choose which one I liked most. I said I didn’t like any and he started explaining how attractive they are. I not knowing what to say accidentally told him I was gay and after a minute of silence he told me I should go and so I left in the middle of the night. We still go out with our group but barely talked to each other. A few days later he came by my home and when we entered the room he hugged me and said he misses me and that he still loves me. (M/15/Gay)
Story #1862
When I came out to my best friend I was pretty scared to tell him but I somehow knew that he accepts for what I am. I had a sleepover at his house and it was already very late and we both played in the bed and talked about love and crushes and something like that, then I tried to tell it to him. I talked about 20 minutes to explain it to him but I didn’t wanted to say it to him directly till he figured it out. He accepted me as who I am and we talked the whole night about it. (M/14/Bi)
Story #1860
When I came out it was to my stepsister. We were generally really open to each other, telling each other about our crushes and drama. But as I started to discover myself I became more secretive, until eventually she sat me down and asked why I never talk to her anymore. After a lot of pestering I told her I was gay. Telling her was a big step in me coming to terms with it myself. I’m now officially out and couldn’t be happier. (M/15/Gay)
Story #1859
When I came out I was surprised by myself. I always knew what my sexuality was but I vowed I would never tell anyone. I told my best friend the day after we saw a gay coming of age movie together. She was extremely supportive and I’m so glad I have her. This year I went to my first pride and I couldn’t stop crying seeing all the love around NYC. Now it’s just time to come out to my extremely religious Chinese parents who asked me if I was going to pride to pick up girls… (M/15/GAYYY)