To celebrate the international coming out day, some loving members of the Karls LGBTQIA+ community decided to reflect on their personal experiences and share some insights about what could have made their coming out process easier. We’ve put together some advice to all of you who are still in the process of experiencing, accepting, and sharing the way you identify yourself.
Take your time
We know, it’s a confusing process, and you don’t have to figure everything out right now. All our lives we were told to be and act in certain way, and it’s not easy to accept that we actually can live our lives the way we want, independently of previous expectations. You don’t need to rush to tell people right away if you don’t feel ready yet. It’s helpful to open yourself to somebody you trust, but take your time, you will know when it’s the right time for you.
Yes, you might be gay
Or anything honestly, it’s a possibility, and a completely normal one. It’s not something that happens on another planet, and although you might not have contact yet with LGBTQIA+ people, we are here. It’s hard when you don’t grow up with queer references, but we’re actually all over the place, living happy and typical lives. Try to get closer to someone who’s already out, it might help you to see that we’re no aliens, but you will definitely discover another world of possibilities.
It’s going to be fine, if not immediately, eventually
Coming out is a scary thing, we don’t really know for sure how people will react, especially how our family will take the information. But in our personal experience, no matter the reaction: it does get better. Unfortunately, there are indeed very condemning families around, but as you grow you realize that you have the right to be yourself, and that does make things easier.
Surround yourself with supportive people
You don’t get to choose your family, but you get to choose your friends, and they can transform your life in extraordinary ways. There are only a few things better than being surrounded by kind and supportive people. Friends that want you to be happy as you truly are will accept you no matter what, and those are the ones worth keeping around.
Accepting yourself is the best feeling in the world
At the end of the day, there’s no better feeling than accepting yourself. The feeling of freedom of being who you genuinely are, loving the people you want to love, and surrounded by people that respect and support you. We cannot truly explain how liberating that is, but we hope you can experience that soon.
Written in 2020 by Celinne de Paula – Marketing & Communications
