Recently, we asked BuzzFeed Community to share with us their heartwarming stories of coming out. Here were some of the amazing responses you blessed us with:
1.
"The first person I came out to was my best friend in high school. I was really nervous about what she would say when I told her. Her response to me was 'huh, OK'. And then she quietly whispered 'I think I'm gay too.' It was awesome." – Rachel Ellen, Facebook
2.
"I came out as trans* right before high school, and I was also kind of a hot mess, and pretty well known as a freak. People didn't really know what I was and instead of asking, people just made things up or thought of me as weird/gross/to be avoided, and certainly not someone you would date.
"Junior year I got really fed up with it all, and since I liked a guy, I asked him out for a change. We were dating for a couple weeks before the question of gender came up, and then I realized – he hadn't been sure of my gender or sex the whole time, but was dating me anyway, liking me as a person. Explaining my identity to him was the easiest and least threatening time I've ever come out, and today he and I have been married for over a year." – Nick Sherman, Facebook
3.
"I am very close with my grandma. One year while I was in college, I visited her for a few weeks. I had my tongue pierced a few weeks earlier, and completely forgot that the only 'balls' I brought with me were rainbow. In a very thick German accent, my grandma asked, 'Chad, what's zat in your mouth?'
'A tongue ring, Grandma.'
'Oh, zoh' you like to suck the dick? I've known since you verr' five.'
I freakin' love her." – chadc46b2aa953
4.
"I was going out to dinner with my dad and as we were going down the street I began with, 'There's something I need to tell you.' He said, 'I get it, you're gay, ice cream for dessert?'" – heidij4df6110ff
5.
"I've been close friends with this guy since first grade. I told him I had something really important to tell him, and he said he had something important to tell me too. We argued back and forth about who should talk first, each claiming that ours was something really big before he said, 'Are you gay?' I said that I was and he said he was too!" – Heather Cirmo, Facebook
6.
"I came out to my grade at school by posting a Facebook status: If you ask me about my sexuality you're not going to get a straight answer." – camtur
7.
"For some reason I was so terrified to come out to my older brother, even though I knew he was going to be totally fine with it. At 10:00pm one night, I typed an unnecessarily long message and I sent it to him. I watched the screen in a silent panic as I saw the 'delivered' go to 'read at 10:02pm' and he began typing, but then he stopped.
"I heard him coming up the stairs, and he opened my door and said, 'I don't know what you were expecting me to say, but I don't care who you like. You're my sister and I love you,' and I started crying. After, like, five minutes of him hugging me, he said, 'Tell me if anyone ever gives you shit for this. I will end them.' I love my brother." – Madeline Melton, Facebook
8.
"During Christmas when we were opening presents, my cousin said asking for earring studs was gay, and that's when I accidentally shouted: 'I LOVE DICK' from the kitchen and came out to everyone. My auntie choked on her piece of pie and my grandma said, 'Thats the fifth one'. But they were all really happy." – Miguel Hernandez, Facebook
9.
"So I got the idea to come out to my family via baked goods, 'cause who can be upset when there's food. So in the middle of the night so that no one would know what I was doing, I began to bake a batch of cupcakes.
"At first everything's going great, I'm being real careful not to be loud and wake anyone, but all of a sudden I realized there were no eggs. Not a problem, a banana could do just fine instead. Things were going great again, until I realized I didn't have enough cocoa, I was beginning to panic just a little bit because it was too late to turn back. I calmed myself down and I just went with it; so what if the cupcakes were only a little chocolaty and tasted a bit like banana? I put them in the oven, I thought after that everything would be fine. I was wrong. I was about to start making some icing when I found out that I had absolutely no icing sugar. I was certain that I was most definitely screwed: How was I supposed to spell 'I'm a lesbian' on some cupcakes without any icing? Yet despite this I remained determined.
"I found out that you can make some makeshift icing sugar with some corn starch and granulated sugar (thanks Google). The icing wasn't really all that icing-like but I didn't really care at that point. But yet again another ingredient was missing, great. I had no food colouring. After some thorough rummaging in the cupboards I found some Kool-Aid mix that had been in the cupboard for who knows how long. In the end I had slightly chocolate and slightly banana flavoured cupcakes with watermelon and strawberry flavoured faux icing. The coming out went great but the cupcakes were nasty — no one ate more than one of them. So remember, kids, check that you have all the proper ingredients before you make coming-out cupcakes." – kacejac
10.
"My mum and I were at the swimming pool and she was checking out the guys by the pool. She turns to me and says stuff about it, and I said, 'I'm not interested in men' and swam away." – Vivienne May, Facebook
11.
"A friend of mine had ordered a batch of trans bracelets for our trans group – I came home wearing it and my mother wanted to talk about my day. After a couple of minutes she noticed it and asked what it was. I told her, I said I reject the gender binary and don't identify etc. and we just got on with our lives." – Tom Fedrick, Facebook
12.
"I came out with an Instagram post saying, 'I'm the greatest Catholic ever, I gave up heterosexuality for Lent a few years ago and I'm still going strong.'" – Noelle Renée Flugrad, Facebook
13.
"I came out as transgender to my mom during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. I was asking about why the teams had to be split up based on gender. I said something along the lines of, 'What about people who don't fit into either, or who were born as one but are the other?' My mom said she didn't know. So I came back with, 'Well, I don't want to be left out of the fun.' She gave me this look like, 'What on earth are you talking about?' and I went on to explain that even though I was designated female at birth, I identify as a boy, and she was really patient and accepting. Honestly, her biggest qualm was that I'm not athletic at all, and if I was going to be left out of the Olympics, it would be because I can't do sports to save my life." – Sam Pridgen, Facebook
14.
"During Easter break, I decided to deliver the news with a festive twist. I grabbed an Easter basket, dyed five eggs, and painted a letter on each to spell out 'I'M GAY'. Included was a note: 'Dad, I figured it was time to put all of my eggs in one basket. Love, Jake.' Needless to say, a lot of laughs and loving hugs ensued." – GovernorWagner92
15.
"I came out to my friends first and they looked at me and said 'finally'. Sometimes you are your own worst enemy." – Daniel Firestone, Facebook
16.
"I told my best friend I was gay and she was like, 'Well obviously' and I asked if it was really that obvious and she said, 'You talk about how in love you are with Shay Mitchell at least once a day.'"– chloew402c11a2e
17.
18.
"The first time I had applied for a job online, my dad sat with me to make sure I typed the right things and clicked the right boxes, etc. Filled out my name and age and address. And then came a question with a drop-down menu: 'sexuality'. I slowly clicked the arrow for the menu to drop down. The options were: straight, gay, bisexual, and prefer not to say. I chose the last one, and my dad says 'how come?' I make up some phoney excuse like, 'oh they think it's their right to know every little thing about me blah blah blah.' My dad just looks at me, takes the mouse, clicks the menu, chooses gay, and moves on." – Immy Done, Facebook
19.
"We were 13 years old, playing truth or dare. Long story short, she came out and so did I. We've been dating since then. She's the first girl I've been with and will be the last." – emospice
20.
"When I came out to my fairly conservative grandfather he was just starting to lose his memory. I told him I had a girlfriend and he said, 'Sounds good, kiddo. Just please remind me every time you see me. I don't want to forget and then make you feel sad.'" – Connor Doberstein, Facebook
21.
"I sent my friends a picture of me kissing a pan with the caption 'I'm pansexual'. It lead to a little confusion since my friend didn't know what it meant and asked if I was really attracted to kitchenware." – sophian4de2011ce
22.
"When I was 17 I was a blogging intern for a feminist magazine and I did a piece on myths surrounding bisexuality and pansexuality. The article opened with, 'Recently, I came out as bisexual (surprise, Mom!).'" – Lex Ellenthal, Facebook
23.
"I've been attracted to girls since I was about 14. Since I grew up in a very religious environment, I had indirectly been told to suppress those feelings my entire life. But as much as I tried to 'pray the gay away,' my attraction towards women didn't leave... Just the other day, I was talking to my dad on the phone. He delicately said, 'I know you are trying to find someone to love you and to love. I just want you to know that if you choose to be with a woman, I would be more than willing to have another daughter in my family to love… Everyone needs someone to love and share life with.'" – kristinad4d5857f76
