How old were you when you came out?

[drocko17]

This topic turned up in another thread.

[Shadow]

It's interesting because I think its outcome is very much going to be based on geography ... people seem to be coming out younger and younger (we've seen on the boards already people that not only know their sexuality from an early age, but who come out at like ... 14 ? Would I'd had the B@LLS to do that :biggrin:), but I think one of the key factors HAS to be geography. In third-world countries, or countries of certain religions, or even well-developed countries like Singapore with archaic laws on the subject, there is so much negativity towards homosexuals still kicking about that even those people that want to come out young have a really tough time, so I would expect the mean age for coming out there would be older than in the UK, for example ...

!?!?! Shadow !?!?!

[Michael]

It's always a hard question for me to answer....

I really honestly came out to myself about 19...but I was having sex with boys/men since I was ...wow....before my teens even. When I didn't even really know what I was doing.

The mind is a powerfull tool. Getting fucked at 13-14 but not admitting it until 19...

[wouldlikemuscle]

22/23 when I came out... started coming out in Feb this year

[Wilem]

Yer I'm one of the ones who came out at like 14, Shadow, lol.
And I'm from Hartlepool. North East. Rough as owt. :wink:

[Hyde]

I never really came out as such, my mum found chatlogs on the PC about how hot I thought Jude Law was, haha. It's a long story, I don't live with my mum, I live with my grandparents and I hadn't seen my mum for around a year and I didn't really think about whether she kept chatlogs to check up on my brother or not. She told my grandparents (who I live with) and after that I just didn't see a point in hiding it, this was when I was 15 :)

[Marky]

Well I came out because I gave my parents my old phone.

It had dirty -cough texts sent to a guy saying stuff in detail.. I THOUGHT I DELETED THEM :(

But yeh.. this was 15?

I think mum knows its true just wants to think its a phase :P x

[putitwhere]

I was messing around with a neighborhood kid when I was 12 or 13. Did alot of fooling around until I was like 21. My father found some letters and magazines in my car bringing about the big emotional "I'm gay" saga.

[Sui]

Yeah... came out two years ago, at 15... >.< stupidest mistake ever.

I'm in Colorado, and I live in a very conservative place... litterally, you can't go more than five-hundred feet without seeing something that's anti-gay around here. I hate this neighborhood.

Oh yeah, and nobody trusts me anymore because of it... lost some of my good, lifelong friends, can't get any sort of job dealing with this neighborhood, and let alone finding someone to love around here. Ugh.

But hey, atleast coming out has done one thing for me: Kept my conscience at bay about lying to my folks.

[YoUnGaY33]

13 :biggrin:

[Marky]

13 :biggrin:

How can you be sure at such a young age? :eek:

[jade_ari]

I always knew I was gay. I am serious. I came out an early age. My parents told me to wait awhile and see how I feel when I get older. But I think I was pretty set on being gay. LOL!

[kitschcamp]

I admitted to myself in my early 20s. I confessed to one close friend in my mid-twenties, but didn't dare come out to family or friends until I was 27. I was living in the UK at the time.

[Steven]

17 :) xxxx

[Marky]

17 :) xxxx

You only found out this year? :rolleyes: Do you find the dating guys thing weird still? :biggrin:

[jayce]

I was fourteen.

[Leon000]

I was sure when i was 11-12 but i came out when i was 14 :P

[rb17]

I think I was about 14?
Is it bad I can't remember properly? :laugh2:

Didn't tell my parents till I was 16 though, know that for a fact

[StevieM26]

I didn't come out until I was 22. I really had to at that point as I moved in with my man.

[CardShark]

I like the poll 16-20 would have been better splitting that up a little more :).

I'm 19 and haven't came out, and have no plans to for the time being.

[curt-88]

When i came out some guy was running his mouth boasting about how gay guys are gross and how not right it is. I turned and said You dont hear any gay guys say that about you so shut the **** up. the class room went silent for like two seconds and filled with an applause. Then he made an attempt gay bash me, I guess after all was said and done he was the one who got gay bashed. I got expelled for that one and was off to private school the next day.

[fjp999]

great story curt :clap:

[Johnboyy]

To myself:14
To my friends:16
To ma parentes: 18
To my brother: 21
To you guys: 33
:D

[Kiid]

About 2 years from the end of January coming up

[Amigo]

I noticed from the poll result,

Not many come out old, do they?

[Kiid]

some do but you don't have to come out early if you don't want to or if you don't feel safe. Do it when your ready

[Amigo]

Actually, I've been thinking about,

"When is the best time to come out?"

And I think the best time to come out is rather later in life.

[Kiid]

Well thats good for you. I'm glad I'm out at such a young-ish. So that means I can live my life as myself not as something/someone I'm not

[marshlander]

Well thats good for you. I'm glad I'm out at such a young-ish. So that means I can live my life as myself not as something/someone I'm not
Good for you. Congratulations on knowing yourself and having the confidence to be yourself :xyxthumbs:

Trying to live as someone you are not has all sorts of consequences.

[Ultra]

I was 23-24 years old when I first came out. I wish I came out at 14-16 years old though.

[PrinceMuzic]

To myself: 14-15
To friends: 14-16
To my parents: TBD



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[sephirothtx]

this is difficult to answer because im not sure, as i've admitted ive known forever, it wasn't till i was 13 that i understood what bisexuality was and that i was it, somthing different than the "norm"

around that time i came out to my cousin and best friend, and few other very close friends, but i never hid it from anybody that asked about it, but it wasn't till college (around age of 18) i became more open about it and like "yeah whatever, i am what i am"

[XRIMO]

I came out to my mother when I was 24 and my father when I was 25. Kinda wish I had done it earlier, but I wasn't ready until then.

[SrChulo]

In the past year I've actively come out to 4 people.. and given them permission to tell whoever they want, like mutual friends, with some exceptions. So all in all, almost everyone who knows me here in Spain (I've been here 2 years) knows I'm gay. (I also have 'gay' friends... Who I'm not counting in this.)

I'm moving back home in two months and I expect a whole new wave of coming out. It does kind of suck that coming out never really ends. It does get easier, I suppose, but it's still stressful.

[posterpicture]

From 4 people to everyone you know in Spain lol.
I am being impressed with grape vine network haha.
Last year, I came out the first time to one friend in December. This year, up to this point, I have been came out to at least 60 people. I guess. :|

[SrChulo]

hahah it's because I've met a lot of gay people...and my 'straight' friend network all knows because of the select people i came out to. :P but yea, it sounds funny.

[posterpicture]

hahah it's because I've met a lot of gay people...and my 'straight' friend network all knows because of the select people i came out to. :P but yea, it sounds funny.

It seems like moving to a new place or studying aboard brings out the opportunity to hang out with "the gay" without carrying much about consequences. I think I am on the same boat with you, I just started coming out since I moved here last year.
But coming out at home will be difficult story. :eek:

[Snow]

i came out this year, so yeah 17

[toomuch45]

i came out to my mother when i was 17 and she took it pretty well

[James]

Is being outed the same thing, then put me down for 13

[Jay]

Well my parents found out that I'm gay when I was still around 13-14 years old. They weren't happy with it. They think I have been cured from homosexuality. Heh.

Anyways I fully came out early this year. I slowly came out to my friends one by one at the end of last year. By now, everyone including my colleagues and my boss know that I am gay. They are very supportive and very open to my sexual orientation.

I was so excited being out that I asked my crush to go out for a date with me in a crowded elevator. Boy, he was shocked. lol

[Waylon777]

I came out when I was 18. It didn't go that well. But, still it's okay now!

[mrk2010]

21 and it was this week to my parents :smile:

[Gabbyboy]

i started to accept myself 18yrs old then came out 20yrs old - by 21 i started dating other men..

[sweetlad2010]

16, 17,18,19,20,21,22,23 and 24 here you dont stop coming out, how ever its only a label at the end of the day ppl..

[goodynames]

15: a few friends. I was confused and came out as bi.
16: couple of relatives and same friends (as gay)

[BYoNexus]

I came out 3 months ago, although i had known for years before that.

[Miles]

I came out for the first time to one of my best friends about a year and a half ago. A few others followed over the next year and half, including my immediate family - kind of painted myself into a corner so I decided to seize the situation and just spill it - all is (mostly) well on that front. Now most of my close friends know.

[Toppo]

I was a practicing gay guy from my teens but I never really came out to my family & friends until well into my mid twenties. Not that it really mattered as everyone knew long beforehand.

[Gabbyboy]

i came out 20 right after my graduation,.. however at this very moment im still coming out to the rest of my relatives. to give them something to talk about..

[mrk2010]

I came out 2 weeks ago to my parents and some close friends but only a handful. :smile: I'm 21 btw.

[princealbertofb]

Congratulations to all you young guys for facing the facts.

[Sil]

I was about 22 I think :P bit of a late starter...

[dfiant]

Back in 1981 I was 12 years old, met a boy in my first year of High School and we started a 'thing'. He wasn't my first, but he was my first love. It didn't last, he found god, we broke up, I was devestated and that was the first time I confided in my mother and got the 'It's just a phase you are going through', I knew better than to argue or keep the conversation going.

Besides the guys i have dated and 'dated' through my teens and twenties, there were a couple of really close friends that always knew.

It wasn't until Easter 2000 until I officially came out, this time mum's reply was 'I always knew' rather than 'It's just a phase'.

So yeah, my first coming out was 12 years old, my official coming out was 31 years old.

[CellarDweller]

I was a late bloomer, I didn't come out until I was just about to turn 27.