Image by freepik.
(For how i crafted these quotes, see What i changed in survey-takers' responses and What i didn't change.)
Adults overall
We'll come out to you when we're ready to.
The more you judge us, the harder it is to be honest with you about our identities.
By the time we come out to you, we've been thinking about our identities for a long time.
Coming out is our choice. You don't have a right to know our identities.
When I come out to you, believe that I know myself. Your first step should be to respect me and believe me.
I want to be able to be all of me with you.
I don't owe you information about my identity.
If we don't come out to you, we're not lying to you.
After I came out, I could see how you looked at me and treated me differently.
I understand that you might assume I'm straight based on how I look. But when I come out to you as bi, i feel hurt if you still insist on thinking of me as straight.
I can still like the things I liked before I came out.
"Coming out to you is the ultimate act of trust. I was never trying to hide who I was, but the environment you put me in made it hard to be honest with you." It's a sign of honor if we confide in you about our identities. Don't throw that away.
"When I came out to my best friend she asked me all types of questions because she wanted to understand better what I was feeling. It was super helpful for both of us."
"Make effort to get to know the real me."
Parents
Parents shouldn't force their kids to come out. If they do, it will just make their kids trust them less.
You don't have to grieve me; I'm still here. Now I just know more about myself.
"I have not yet told my parents because every time I bring up a non-binary person my dad mostly get confused about their pronouns. It gets exhausting trying to explain pronouns out of the norm of 'he' and 'she' and I wish they would just not make a big deal about it."
My younger sibling and I are both out. I came out first, and our parents weren't supportive at all. When my sibling came out, our parents were really encouraging and educated themselves. If they would have been that way with me, I would have avoided so much shame and known they loved me.
"My sister is bi and my parents don't like the idea of one of their kids being in the LGBTQA+ community so we have chosen that we will fully fully come out on top of their grave."
