When I came out as bisexual, I was 13. In elementary school, when my friends and I played pretend, I’d always play a guy and I’d always try to flirt with my female friends. In middle school, I discovered I had a fiendish attraction to Rosario Dawson, and I once typed “am I gay?” into Google before closing the tab out of shame. I knew I had crushes on boys, but I didn’t accept my attraction to women until I was 13. I remember sitting in my room alone, texting my friend, “I think I might be bisexual.” It took a while to type because my fingers were shaking so much. And she said something like, “That’s wonderful!” Immediate acceptance and love. My mother’s reaction was not so affirming. At least the first time I came out set a good standard. (Non-binary/21/Queer)
Story #2373
When I came out as transgender the only one who I felt believed me was my brother. Everyone else said they did but acted like I was still a girl and just a tomboy. One of my bff said I will always be a girl but she just doesn’t understand. My ex best friend yelled at me that I was sinning. To this day she still makes fun of me. It really is hard. (Demiboy/Queer)
Story #2364
When I came out to my mom, I was in the car with her. I wanted to make sure I could summon my courage and tell her, so I told myself I would not get out of the car until I told her. We pulled up to our destination and she started to get out, but I asked her to hang on for a second. I told her I was bi and she looked worried and asked if that meant that I could not marry my boyfriend. I told her that even though I was bi, I was still allowed to marry my boyfriend if I wanted to. (Bigender/32/Queer/bi)
Story #2360
When I came out as nonbinary, my parents were pretty confused. They misgendered me and didn’t let me have gender affirming treatment for a while. They didn’t mean make me feel unsupported, they were just very confused. MY therapist who was also non-binary helped me immensely and talked to my parents. Then they were more accepting and brought me to a trans health clinic. It is still a learning curve for my parents, but a message to all fellow enbys; sometimes it takes some time for people to come around. 🙂 (Non-binary/genderqueer/14/Queer)
Story #2297
When I came out as trans my mom thought I was just a tomboy. She said stuff like “You can be a girl and not like to wear dresses.” She told me that I “might grow out of it.” Eventually she just snapped and said, “You’re a girl. I know because I gave birth to you!” I cried for a while. I told her that I’m not a living amalgamation of what she wants me to be and that I hate being called a girl. I think she finally got the message. (Demiboy [I think]/Queer)
Story #2270
When I came out the other night it was for $15. Lol. I was playing video games with my brother and two of our friends and realized that GTA was on sale, but I didn’t have enough money. I had mentioned a big secret a week ago and one of my friends REALLY wanted to know and offered me $15 if I told them, so I did. Was definitely worth it. They all reacted well! (F/15/Queer)
Story #2243
When I came out I could barely hear the words over the sound of my heart pounding. I have always loved my queerness but after the words left my lips I hoped the world would end before anyone responded. I was so nauseous I was worried I was going to puke. My parents said they had no idea but of course they were happy to know and loved me. My friends said “Ohhhhh, that makes sense.” I’ve never received a truly homophobic response to coming out, but I can still feel all the oxygen leave the room when I think of the first time. But I survived. I made it. (F/23/Queer/bisexual)
Story #2231
When I came out as bisexual (biromantic asexual, to be specific) to my best friend in middle school, she immediately grimaced and then later left my house crying; she proceeded to block me on all social media and avoided me entirely. It hurt and made it hard for me to continue to explore my identity, but I have tried out and landed on other labels since then (trans, gray-asexual, and panromantic), and, fortunately, coming out to loved ones in the future has (mostly) gone far, far better. I now have a close group of friends that are all queer, a nonbinary partner that I love deeply and that deeply loves me, and a family that supports me completely even if they don’t always understand. It can get better; there are people out there that will love you for your whole self, so find them, or let them find you. Love and acceptance is possible, finding those like you is inevitable, and feeling truly cherished is beautiful. (M/21/Transgender/queer)
Story #2184
When I came out, it followed with my dad outing me to my mam and my sister. I was lucky that they were all accepting of my sexuality, but now, 3 years after, I’m still working through my feelings on being outed by someone I trusted. (NB/18/Queer)
Story #2177
When I came out I came out to my friends over text. And I was so scared but they supported me. Now most of my friends are queer and we are all heterophobic 😌 but I still have to come out to my family but idk how (Questioning/13/Queer)