Coming Out

[GerrySpice]

I come from an overly religious family. Like the bad kind of religious. The kind that would abandon me if they found out I was gay. However, I love them. They were there for me forever. They paid for my education. They are my whole world and I am scared that if I open up to them, that they will leave me. What do I do? How do I tell them that I am still the same person that I was before. What do I do?

[TrentBishop]

This is going to suck to hear but if they are that religious than worst case scenario you might lose your parents. Best case, they come around eventually. Are you prepared for that kind of thing? That is a big issue and you need to be ready for the worst. However, if you feel that you are ready than just tell them that you aren't any different and it shouldn't matter who you love. You will grow at your own pace and you are very happy. If they need time they can take all the time they need.

[BillyLumpkin]

Yeah I came from a religious family. It was the absolute worst. It took me forever to finally come out to them and in the end they left and we haven't spoken since. However, I have found my own family that actually makes way more sense than anything else. My parents get a card at christmas time from me every year about how much I miss them and I wish they would come around. Maybe one day. But I am not holding my breathe.

[DanteThunderstorm]

I couldn't imagine what happens when you come out to a family that is not ok with gay people. I was so lucky that when I came out my family was super accepting and understood where I was coming from and spent the proper time with me. I had no idea how bad it got for some people until I started meeting so much more of the gay community. I will happily be your family. You deserve to come out to someone who will actually care about you and be there for you.

[MountainMan]

Yeah, I also lucked out in the sense that my family was very supportive. They were religious but they were also like very liberal and loved the idea of having a gay kid. Also, it helped that colleges also loved that I was gay to so I got scholarships and what not. It made some parts of my life very easy. However, I did lose friends. Some friends just couldnt handle the idea of me being gay but that was their problem. It sucked that they abandonned me but I also know that this was for the best. I did nothing wrong, the fault lies with them.

[GerrySpice]

Well, I told my parents. They haven't spoken to me in a long while now but at least my mother makes the effort to check in. I know that we will go backto normal soon enough but I need that soon enough to be sooner because I miss my family and I love them dearly. Thankfully my sister stuck by my side and has been slowly helping them along but still. I am there son. Nothing has ever hurt this much.

[RockingHorse]

I came out in high school. I got beat up almost twice a week until I graduated. I kept getting told over and over again that things would get better once I hit college and that all I had to do was just keep going. It was the worst. I wish I never came out. However, when I came out it gave others someone to talk and I became a confident in a lot of people. It sucked a lot for me but honestly I am happy that I did it because those people needed someone and I was willing to do that for them. You realize now a days that things are not like what they used to be. People are on average a lot more accepting so you really have nothing to worry about. Unless you are from the deep south where they still hate gays, you should be in the clear. But if you ever need someone we are all always here for you to lean on.