Your best friends could probably tell you which Spice Girl or Office character you're most like better than any BuzzFeed quiz. Still, no matter how close you are to your friends, expressing your sexuality and gender identity can be pretty flipping intimidating. No matter who you are or where you're at in your own process, these tips for coming out to your friends may help you feel calm and collected as you open up to your pals.
"The 'coming-out process' is deeply personal and very much about you and not about other people," Chris Bright, director of public training for The Trevor Project tells Elite Daily. "Coming out can lead to beautiful, magical things like all of your friends accepting you, getting to date someone the way you want to, and/or getting to express your gender the exact way you want to, but we also know that some communities aren't as accepting and sometimes people come out and they loose stability and safety."
Regardless of where you are in your own queer journey, explaining your gender identity and sexuality to your friends can be a little daunting. If you're feeling ready to open up, here are six expert tips.
Whether you're not ready to come out to your friends or you're simply not interested in it, you never need to feel any pressure to. However, if you are trying to open up more to the people that you love, coming out to your friends can be a really amazing experience.
"Inviting someone in to your world can be a very freeing and healing experience," Caraballo says. "While it's always a good idea to be cautious, don't let fear completely stop you from living the life you were meant to live! Chances are your friends already accept you for who you are and that's why you're close to begin with."
While you never need to risk your own safety or comfort, being open and honest with your friends can be super liberating. Your friends love you and want what's best for you. Though it may take a second to fully process, coming out may ultimately bring you closer together.
Coming out to your friends can be a very special experience. Whether you tell them one at a time or all at once, expressing your identity to the people that love you can be super liberating. Of course, if you're ready or interested in telling your friends, you never need to feel the pressure. Being open about your identity is hard. Prioritizing your mental and physical well-being is always most important. If your friends aren't supportive or they're not responding how you need them to, it's OK to set some healthy boundaries and take some time for yourself. There may be no "I" in "team," but there's certainly an "I" in friend (the most earth sign statement of all time). And when it comes to coming out to your pals, you get to do whatever feels right for you.
For more stories like this one, visit Elite Daily's Coming Out page.
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