A major part of the LGBTQ+ experience is the coming out. For many people, this can be a hard situation to process, but here is a guide on how to safely and effectively come out. 

Look at your resources

                 Try to understand your sexuality or gender. If unsure, that is alright too, but having a basic understanding makes things much easier. Being unaware of your sexuality or gender can be figured out by going to the Planned Parenthood website. They go over being unsure of your sexuality and just the overall coming out experience.This is also a good place to go if you are questioning your Gender Assigned at Birth. Here you can find tips on how to understand those feelings and information on transitioning. The American Psychiatric Association also provides more information on gender dysphoria, They go in depth on the overall diagnosis of gender dysphoria as well as different definitions you might wanna know and different pronouns that you can use.  If you still have not found what you are looking for, YouTube can be a good resource. Youtube has a collection of content creators who only cover LGBTQ+ topics and have multiple videos there to help out with coming out.

Think about your environment:

               Make sure you are in a safe space or you know of a safe space you can go to before coming out. A simple way to determine this is by testing what the people already know and to find out their overall viewpoints on the community.You can bring up certain things like a recent news article or a new law passed. Depending on their reaction, you can determine your next move. If the person you’re coming out to is still unaware of what you mean, provide research or articles to back up your point. For example, if they do not understand the concept of gender dysphoria, refer them to an article on the basics of what they need to know.  If they are starting to show supportive signs, then you know you are on the right track. If you find out that they are not very supportive and you still need someone to talk to, there are multiple online resources that you can access. 

A backup plan (www.thetrevorproject.org)

            The Trevor project covers issues from big to small that are ongoing in your life. These can be things such as unaccepting parents to thoughts of depression and suicide. They have an online community group where you can reach out to other LGBTQ+ youth and talk about your issues. 

Understand things take time

              When ready, try to remember to talk to them in a safe and personal space. This way it is comfortable for you and the person you will be coming out to. For many young kids and even some adults, this can be a scary situation to put yourself in. You always have to worry about whether or not they will understand, or if they will support you. Oftentimes this drives people away from actually every coming out, which usually leads to them suppressing their feelings. Remember that you are not any different for having these feelings or emotions and that it is perfectly normal. You will always have a supportive community and group of allies to go if you ever need it.