This article was inspired by Growing Up Gay: What You Should Know by Kenzie Houdek.
After reading that article, I realized how much I had not known about lgbt back when I was first finding myself.
You should not come out until you are ready; I remember always feeling pressured by myself to come out to everyone I knew/met. I always felt that if I did not tell them, I was lying. But that is not the truth. You have to make sure that YOU are comfortable before you come out.
If coming out does not turn out the way you planned, do not think that it is your fault or that you are in the wrong; you are not in the wrong
If you live with a homophobic family, wait until you are financially stable before you come out, as you can never know what will happen when you come out (unless you are Saffire from Steven Universe, but I highly doubt that.) Maybe your homophobic family will put aside their hate and accept you, but you can never know what will happen, and they might kick you out of the house.
As I was writing this, I started to think about what my friends had to say. So I texted them, and this is what they had to say.
"Don't worry about meeting someone else. I know you might be lonely, but most people do not want to be out in high school. You will find someone, it might just take time," one friend said.
“My advise is to find a celebrity that's gay or bi that speaks about it that makes you feel like you can still be successful and happy, even if you don't fit into social norms. My celebs are Frank Iero and Gerard Way-they're who they are and just say 'screw anyone who disagrees,'" my dear friend Jillian Logans told me.
I texted two other friends who came up with their own helpful lists for me to put on this article.
• Don't come out unless you feel safe.
• Probe first.
• Know that you are valid even if the idiots around you don't see it.
• Life will get better once you are an adult.
• Do things that make you happy as long as your happiness isn't at the expense of others.
• "Surround yourself with supporting people in general,” my friend Dorie told me.
Another friend told me this- “This is my advice for LGBTQ+ youth:
- You don't have to know exactly what you are, but you also are never too young to know what you are.
- Experimenting is not a bad thing! It's perfectly fine to find out that you are straight/cis after thinking that you are LGBTQ+.
- Being LGBTQ+ is not bad, no matter what anyone else might say. You will find acceptance and happiness someday if you haven't already.”
