I go back to school in a few days and this year one of my goals is to be out to my close IRL friends. I'm not very worried about them not accepting me (they wouldn't be real friends if they didn't! Most of them are at least the Glee-watching, "I wouldn't care if my friend was gay" type, so I'm optimistic) but I could use some tips for what to say, what not to say, how much space should I give them to process things, etc. Another thing that concerns me is that I'm not out to my family. It feels like it's easier to come out to friends because they don't live with me and, truthfully, I value their opinions more. I wouldn't care if the whole school knew, as long as my family didn't find out that way. I want to come out to them when I'm ready, on my own terms. So I guess that's the second half of my question: does anyone have any experience with being out to friends but not family? Should I limit it to my close friends until my parents know, in case someone outs me at the grocery store or something?
I am only out to my friends and it works out fine. They understand not to post anything stupid to my Facebook and when I'm back home around family it isn't spoken of. Mainly because there isn't anything to talk about. They know that I like guys and don't care about it. The only thing I would suggest is getting across the point to not openly out you near your family members.
Thanks for the advice! I'll definitely make it clear that they're among the first to know and that my family doesn't know yet.
