With increasing support and acceptance of LGBT rights, students, leaders, and members of the LGBT community are more open to coming out in public. HuffPost Live hosted a discussion on this topic to see how people choose to come out today, whether it's via social media, in high school, or even at the Golden Globes.
Actor and national spokesperson for GLAAD Wilson Cruz came out publicly at 19, just before his big debut on the show 'My So Called Life.' He was about to star as one of the first gay teenagers on national television, but he wanted to leave an even greater impact.
"I was making a declaration. I wanted to model to people that this was not something I was ashamed of -- that it was actually something I was quite proud of," he told host Josh Zepps. "I wanted to send a message to youth and to people that came after me, to say there is nothing to be ashamed of. You can live your life and have success and happiness."
Though many are more comfortable coming out with a splash, the act of coming out is not always a single event in one's life.
"While there are these splashy kind of public announcements that happen, that's the one big thing that happens," said Noah Michelson, editor of HuffPost Gay Voices. "But every single time I meet someone new, I have to say 'oh my boyfriend,' or 'actually, I'm gay' or 'actually I don't have a wife' or that kind of thing."