It's important that you think carefully about your reasons for wanting to come out.
Good reasons would include:
- Wanting to be more honest with, or closer to, the people that are important in your life.
- Feeling depressed because you feel that you are lying about your sexuality to people that matter.
- To make it easier to meet others who share your sexuality.
In contrast, you should avoid coming out if your reasons only include:
- Trying to hurt or shock somebody.
- Wanting to benefit someone else.
- Attempting to reduce homophobia for the good of the 'gay community'.
This reasoning doesn't only apply when you first start thinking about coming out to other people in general. It also applies afterwards, whenever you're considering if you should reveal your sexuality to a particular individual.
In case you thought otherwise, coming out isn't just a one-time event. It's something that you'll need to think about each time you meet someone new. But the good news is that it gets easier to deal with each time, until it just becomes second nature. Eventually we hope you will be able to reach the stage when all your family and friends know about your sexuality. Come that time, most new friends will just find out about your sexuality from others without any need for you go out of your way to tell them.
