Male

Response 18

| Olivia

Demographics

First Name: Jacob

Age: 21

Gender/Pronouns: Male (he/him)

Sexuality: Bisexual

Region/Area: Dayton, OH

Race/Ethnicity: White

Story

I came out as gay for a while and told my family and friends. Most were supportive and I ran into no issues. I never told my best friend because he always made me feel like he was homophobic. I got to college and started dating guys and at the end of my freshman year began a sexual relationship with a girl. After this I determined I was probably bisexual because I had like all but my first sexual experience. My first was with a girl and was around the time I started noticing guys which made me believe I was gay. After explaining to people I was bisexual this is where I felt the most discriminated many people told me I was confused or my conservative background forced me back into the closet. Some of my friends who were very supportive of me being gay were concerned about me being bisexual. I had a girlfriend tell me I wasn’t bi at all and told many people who knew about me coming out that I was just bicurious at the time and have it all figured out now.

Response 12

| Olivia

Demographics

First Name: Anonymous

Age: 20

Gender/Pronouns: Male

Sexuality: Queer

Region/Area: Cincinnati, OH

Race/Ethnicity: White

Story

My coming out experience was a really weird, heterogeneous fluctuation from the point where I first told my sister I didn’t think I was straight, to slowly telling friends over the course of a couple years while I was in high school. Around the end of my senior year, I made a painting about queer identity to put in a school art show, but it was so subtle that no one really read that much into it. So I made a crappy Facebook post being like “I’m gay XD” and then kept on vibing. My mom was not friends with me on Facebook, but she found out when she tried to send me a friend request my freshman year of college, and I think that was the last major person I came out to! Obviously we are always coming out to new people in our lives all the time, but I think that was the major climax in my coming out story.