This site vs. 'real people' when you're closeted

It has been for me. EC has been my only sort of LGBT support group, mostly because I'm out of college and they're really not that common in my area unless you're in high school or college.

 

I do both, I joined my high schools GSA, and I go on this site. I personally think both are beneficial in different ways. Here you can ask questions that you may feel awkward asking anyone in real life. And in a GSA you get to see REAL LIFE gay people haha.

 

This.

There's something to be said for the anonymity of the internet. You can share a lot with a large community of people you might never have talked to otherwise. And that is cool.

But there's something to be said about physically being with people at like a GSA/LGBT allance etc. kind of club.

 

Many of our members, I'm sure, have joined for that exact reason. That's the benefit of us being an internet-based support group: anonymity.

 

I agree with everyone above. Sites like EC and other LGBT groups each serve a different purpose, but they also complements each other very well if you ask me.

Some people use EC as a stepping stone to have enough courage to join an LGBT group, some people use it to ask questions they don't feel talking about in person and some people haven't even heard of a GSA until they join a website.

Also, the one amazing thing about the internet is the amount of people that you are able to reach. A LGBT group can only reach the people around it, but site like EC can reach anyone who has access to the internet, which can be a life saver for many people in very rural areas or in countries were is very looked down upon. This is also the reason why the gay community has done such great progress in what seems like a burst out of nowhere. Now we have places where we can go without having to actually go anywhere or being noticed.

 

EC is extremely useful for people in the UK. We don't really have GSAs anywhere.
And if we did, very few straight people would go, and most people who went would be assumed to be LGBT. So you would pretty much be outing yourself by attending.

 

We don't have GSAs or any form of LGBT support network anywhere.

I mainly joined EC because IRL, the only gay guys I know are socially inept, think I'm stupid, or insane. So its a good place for LGBT discussion in general as well as that regarding coming out, at least in my opinion.

 

Part of the reason I joined was because there was no actual live, in-person support group locally for teens. Although, I'd bet that I would have been too intimidated and afraid of being outed to actually join one if it were an option. I think sites like EC can be extremely beneficial, particularly to more introverted people.

 

I found this site enormously helpful, and grounding, while questioning. I still do!

The anonymity of internet based groups really does help one ask questions or whatnot that one wouldn't in normal situations. Though I have a friend or two whom might lurk, or may have joined, so that makes things a little more risky :lol:

I do miss the feeling of talking to real people, as it were, rather than an intermediate forum, but I also haven't found any groups to sneak into yet

 

This site was a tremendous help while I was coming out.

I have since built up a good sized network of gay friends. I still visit this site as the atmosphere is very different. There is a great bunch of people here that really care about each other. While I have not met any of y'all in real real life I still consider everyone here a friend.

 

I have GSA in my highschool but the only problem is i feel like goong is pretty much outing yourself. especialy if your an introverted senior who has shown no previous intest.

That said EC has been my best recourse.

 

When I was in high school there was no GSA at my school or maybe there was and I was just too deep in the closet to notice one. If there was one I probably wouldn't have gone because, due to paranoia, I would have deemed it to risky and not worth the possibility of getting caught attending. For me EC and the Internet in general were the answer. I could be myself and yet remain anonymous. I think the best resource I found here were reading other people's coming out stories and realizing that most of the time it turned out alright which was a huge boost in my confidence. For the first time in my life it dawned on me that maybe, just maybe that coming out wouldn't be the worst experience of my life.

Unfortunately I joined Empty Closets long after I dropped out of high school so I was never really comfortable with the notion of being 'out' during my high school years. Had I been born a few years later or if I discovered a resource like EC earlier I may very well have had the courage to join a GSA (assuming one existed). I eventually went back to an adult-ed school to get my diploma and I had just come out for the first time to a close friend. Later that spring I had the courage to wear a rainbow pride bracelet to school. My class consisted of a bunch of adults but it was still a huge step for me.

University/College is on the horizon for me (trying to save money) and I think if/when that happens I will join an LGBT group there as I am completely comfortable with it now. Back in high school, not a chance but now that I'm out and proud I would do it in a heartbeat if only to bolster the confidence of someone else who might be struggling.

 

I joined EC because I am currently in the middle of nowhere lol, but i do plan on checking out SAGA(what my school calls GSA) and the community based LGBT center to see how those go but i love EC a very friendly and supportive place

 

I joined this site because my high school has no (and probably will never have a) GSA. They're rather, small and conservative. I didn't know any gay people and I was sort of lost when I found this.

However, in college I plan to join the LGBT club, because I'm out to anyone and everyone. I want to meet more LGBT my age.

 

The city I live in doesn't have any youth LGBT groups, in or out of schools, that run all year. We have one during the summer. I'm also so closeted that there would be no way I could get to one without being outed one way or the other, it really doesn't help when EVERYONE knows your parents. So EC is a great place for me right now, as I can get support, chat with people and not have to worry about being pulled from my comfortable closet before I'm ready.

 

I'm known in my town and a lot of people have questioned my sexuality...mostly due to how I seem to have so many values. Me showing up at a LGBT related place would be social suicide for my entire family...and probably a few strokes here and there. So that's out of the question. EC is the only place I have for support as I learn to accept things beyond my control. Hoping to become a full member soon...I wanna know what it feels like to have a one on one conversation with someone without having to hide anything - tried that with I a shrink...didn't work. Face to face conversations make me insecure.

 

As many people already said, not everyone has access to offline LGBT support groups. I've recently done some research and found that there are almost no such groups in Brazil, which is rather disappointing (either that or they are hiding really well from Google). EC, on the other hand, is a fantastically helpful tool and absolutely accessible for anyone with internet.

 

This site has been most certainly helpful with my case and I'm very happy to say that I've seen this place.^^ I'm just so thankful I got to see this place in those times of my deeply down days.

But then again, I think nothing beats the feeling of reality, where you tell people and you're out to them in the real world and not in the net communities. I guess this could be some way to come to that point someday.

 

Like lots of other people said there isn't really any LGBT support groups where I live, at least not any that are much good!