When I came out, my mom said “Who told you that?” My sister said, “We were wondering when you were gonna tell us.” My other sister said in her best Jewish accent, “Come on up to Atlanta, we’ll have a coming out party for ya!”

When I came out to my mom she said that she understood because she had a long-term relationship with a woman before I was born. “You can’t help love who you love.”

When I came out, at Christmas Dinner, my father just said, “It’s about damn time you told us.” I asked, “Is that it? ‘Cause I’d worked myself up for something a little, well… ‘more’…” Mom replied, quoting from the TV Show “Soap”, “Would this have worked better for you, Mike? — OH MY GOD, BUD, OUR SON’S A HOMO!” “No,” I said, “please pass the wine…” I love my family!

When I came out, my mother said, “Well, you’re in that phase where you’re figuring it all out. Don’t do anything you’ll regret”… which was WAY more support than I ever suspected.

When I came out to my friend as a bisexual, he said, “Wait, so you’re attracted to girls too? That’s really sexy!” We then proceeded to drool over Emma Watson together. Best. Night. Ever.

When I came out, my mother said, “You can never tell your father. I think he might kill himself and it will be your fault.”

When I came out, I cried. I felt like I lost a battle. Now I am the happiest, proudest gay ever!

When I came out, I lost a couple of friends and went through a rough patch with my mother, but the relief of not having to lie and put up a façade anymore was overwhelming. Thirty-five years later, life is still great.

When I came out, my brother wanted to know what we’d do if we ever both liked the same girl.

When I came out as a male to female transsexual to my father, it was in an email around Christmas time, about three years after I moved very far away from my home state where they lived. I got a response from him a few days later, saying that I was mistaken and misguided, but that also he had been looking at post-op SRS before and after pictures, and in his opinion they didn’t look anything like vaginas he’s ever seen. All I could say was “Please, Dad, PLEASE tell me you weren’t just thinking about what my post-op vagina was going to look like.”