"I was 15 when I came out. It was a unique situation — my tenth grade English class was given a speech presentation assignment, and I decided to write mine on LGBTQ+ struggles and representation, with the twist that I myself was gay. I ended up coming out to my whole class, which quickly became my whole school. I was lucky enough that people were very accepting and understanding. A few of my classmates weren’t so warm; one kid laughed in my face about it, someone else wouldn’t drop the topic for the rest of the month, and I heard a lot of jokes and whispers. It made me uncomfortable, but it wasn’t too bad, all things considered — kind of what you’d expect from such a public coming out.

"In the actual instant when I had to say 'I’m gay,' I felt like all the air was getting sucked out of my lungs. Every time I’ve said those words to someone since, it’s been another little moment of fear, stress, uncertainty — just a fleeting anxiety that they might take it badly. It’s gotten better over time, though. Once again, I’ve been really lucky, because I’ve never gotten a violent or outright aggressive reaction.