Create Strategies For Coming Out Gay
If you feel coming out as gay is going to change your life in big ways, you are likely correct. Most people who go through this find it easier to do when they give some serious thought to developing a real strategy. This strategy should take into consideration the needs and feelings of the people who you love the most.
Coming out gay is a serious step not only for you, but for everyone you love who will have to accept this change in how they perceive you. That is why it will be much easier for everyone involved if you give some thought to how to break the news in a gentler manner for each individual person.
Your two options come down to collecting everyone in a group and making an announcement or getting with the people you care about most and telling them individually. For most people, a combination of both will be the best answer.
There are probably some people in your love who will feel freer to release emotions and ask questions if you are alone with them. Others may not respond very well to news like this coming suddenly while they are surrounded by others. In those cases, give them the courtesy of a private conversation.
Later on, you can always have a group session where you tell friends and more distant relatives who you feel deserve to be told by you personally, but who don’t necessarily need to be sat down individually. You can always invite some of the people you told individually to a group session for support or just so they feel included in the larger group.
How you do this ultimately depends on the individuals in your life and how you feel they may respond. Just avoid the tactic of telling one loud mouth friend who will run around telling everyone else. This leads to a lot of problems as some people are hurt, others refuse to believe it, and you never know who knows or does not know at any given time.
Don’t worry about the entire town knowing just yet. Give those you love the most the respect of an official notification from you, and let the others discover it on their own as you happily carry out your life.
