11/10/2026
Today is National Coming Out Day. π
A day to celebrate authenticity, support those on their journey, and remind everyone that they deserve to be seen, valued, and accepted for who they are.
To everyone who has come out, is thinking about coming out, or simply continues to live authentically every day, this day is for you. β€οΈ
Here is the experience of a member of the group
I think I knew I was q***r when I was in high school, probably around 14 or 15. I was lucky because I had friends who were already openly LGBTQ+, so there was never really a big βcoming outβ moment with them. I just got to be myself, which made a huge difference.
It was much harder with my family. My parents are quite conservative, and I just did not feel ready to tell them for a long time. I moved away from my hometown when I was 18, so I did not see them all that often. That meant I could live my own life without really having to explain it, but it also made it easier to put off the conversation.
I did not actually tell my parents until I was in my thirties. I had recently come out of a long-term relationship with a man and had started dating again. Some of the people I was dating were women, and I eventually thought, βIβm a grown-up. I can date whoever I like.β
I also did not want to suddenly show up with a girlfriend, or a partner who was non-binary, and have my parents feel like I had hidden something from them or my partner to feel like they had been a secret. So, while we were away on a family holiday, I decided to just tell them.
Honestly, they were not surprised at all. I think my dad just said, βYeah, we figured.β After all the time I had spent worrying about it, it turned out to be much less dramatic than I had expected.
I never did a big coming-out announcement to the rest of my family, including my sister. I just carried on living my life openly. I dated who I wanted to date, and eventually everyone kind of figured it out.
Iβm married to a woman now, so I suppose that helped make it pretty clear too.
***r