Coming Out Stories

These are real stories, sent to us by people in this community, in their own words. Some of them went well. Some of them did not. All of them are worth reading before your own.

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The pansexual Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading A LITTLE WAVE

A Reader's Coming Out Story: The Short Story

They peeked in the closet. She gave a little wave.

The bisexual Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading THREE WORDS

Mackenzie's Coming Out Story

She opened with a little-known fact about Freddie Mercury. The rest of it was three words long.

The transgender Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading HE PAINTED IT

Simon's Coming Out Story

He never said it out loud. He painted it, and left it where his mother would find it.

The aroace Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE

Amber's Coming Out Story

She had never dated anyone, and assumed she was the only person alive who felt that way. Then she scrolled past a flag she had never seen before.

The gay men's Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading SHE ASKED FIRST

Andrew's Coming Out Story

Four songs into the playlist he chose, his mother turned around and asked the question herself.

The bisexual Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading THEY EXHALED

Julia's Coming Out Story

She came out on National Coming Out Day at sixteen. Her parents exhaled, because they had braced for something else entirely.

The pansexual Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading NINE YEARS TWO NAMES

Ally/Axel's Coming Out Story

At nine they were confused and had no word for it. At eighteen they had two names and no doubt about either.

The lesbian Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading LETTERS NOBODY READ

Reise's Coming Out Story

At seventeen she wrote letters she never meant anyone to read. At twenty-two, everyone she knows knows her girlfriend's name.

The bisexual Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading SHE'S SERIOUS

Vanessa's Coming Out Story

Her mom thought it was a joke. Her dad was the one who cut in and said, "She's serious.

The gay men's Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading ONE BIG FAT YES

Erick's Coming Out Story

He never planned to say it. The argument got there before he did, and the answer came out as one big fat yes.

The rainbow Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading THEN CAME THE MIDDLE

A Reader's Coming Out Story: Telling a Religious Dad

He yelled, and then he settled, and then came the part nobody warns you about: the middle.

The pansexual Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading THE WATER HELD

JJ's Coming Out Story

He tested the water with a Facebook status and it held. Now he is working out whether the same trick works twice.

The transgender Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading SHE WENT ANYWAY

Dakota's Coming Out Story

She posted the truth in February. By that afternoon a stranger had called her a disease, and she still went to the prom.

The bisexual Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading ONE SENTENCE

Alexanndra's Coming Out Story

She asked her stepmom to tell her dad. From the bottom of the stairs she heard exactly one sentence of his reply.

The pansexual Pride flag tilted on a dark gradient, with bold outlined text reading TEN YEARS OF MUSIC

Josephine's Coming Out Story

Music carried her through the ten years her own brain kept the worst of it from her.

Every one of these came from someone who decided it was worth writing down. If you have one, we would like to read it.