Coming Out

I got to thinking: LGBT teenagers need to be shown the bigger picture. They need to know they're not alone. They need to know that it does get better. They need to be shown the future, especially their own. So I wrote a letter.

It was a brave step, I thought, for my mom. She didn't know how it would turn out. It was a chance she was willing to take. She knew she didn't have it wrong. She had always known. She had been happy to let me come out in my own time, but something encouraged her to make the first move.

I decided to interview my ex-boyfriend for his perspective on my coming out. We always hear what it's like for the gay person, but there are countless ex-girlfriends, ex-boyfriends, ex-spouses, and ex-lovers who are left reeling from the shock of the lies. This is his side of the story.

Despite the advances that the LGBTQA movement has made, there is discrimination within the LGBTQA community when it comes to sexual orientation and labels. When I mention in some circles that I am bisexual/pansexual, I am told that I just haven't made up my mind.

My father asked me not to divulge parts of what I am about to tell you. However, at some point, I realized that my own feelings were not being respected in that process, and that I might be disrespecting your feelings. There are many things you should know.

Coming out is not a singular event. We need to do it over and over again in casual conversations, despite the associated risks, and in more important conversations like job interviews. The more we do it, the more we can teach and influence others.

I said, "But what if you felt all those things, everything you've just described, but you felt it for someone of the same sex?" My sister's smile fell. She replied, gravely, "The world has fallen, and Satan has turned you."

Personal identity is probably the biggest asset any of us has, and when this powerful piece of the equation is anchored, no matter whether you're starting a new business, seeking funding for a project, or being a kick-ass rocker, everything else seems to fall into place a little easier.

Chris Birch, the British man who claims to have "woken up gay" after suffering a stroke, is back in the headlines after becoming the subject of a much...

As scared as I was to come out to my family, it was not nearly as daunting as coming out to my Bible Study. I'd been a member of this particular small group for several months before I moved in with my girlfriend, Jenny.

At brunch last Sunday one of my closest friends was gushing over a guy he met out. His suitor is smart, handsome, employed, rents to own, and has a shared penchant for pizza at 3 a.m. But there's one problem: Prince Charming came out only a few months ago, at 28.

I know a number of women -- older women, in particular -- who were married to men when they were younger but partnered up with women later in life. I asked Kristin Katalin to share her personal story.

With so much hate continually aimed at the LGBT community, we like to take a moment every once in a while to highlight some of the good news we featur...

As it turns out, coming out of the closet is good for your health -- if your family members are supportive, that is. A new study conducted by the ...

An incredible amount has changed in terms of the playing field for openly LGBT actors in the days since the campaign started. In April 2011 things were looking pretty bleak: we had yet to see someone huge come out, someone who could carry a film, a bona fide movie star.

I know you wish you weren't gay. I know you wish it wasn't happening to you. I know you feel hard done by. You'll learn in time that you don't really feel like that at all. Believe me when I tell you that you ultimately embrace who you are.

Fraud is harmful, even if no link to a specific victim can be established. In a way, the closet is like tax evasion. Tax evaders balance the negative impact to themselves (paying taxes) with the legal requirement to contribute to society. The man or woman in the closet does the same.

The reason you want to come out is not because of what it will do for your relationship with others. It's because of what coming out will do for your relationship with you. The kind of stress born of living a lie will age you prematurely.