What helped you shut the closet door after you left?

I had that period of time, and i dont exactly know were it started or ended. I suppose it had something to do with the fact i was either freshly out, or not out to everyone.

One of the key points for me shutting the door completely was the first time i had to face a bad reaction to me being gay. I suppose it was because i was treading lightly around the subject all the time to avoid this. But when it happened, and my treading lightly didnt stop it, i came to the conclusion that not everyone is GOING to accept me, and one of the parts of being completely out is brushing it off and moving forwards, always forwards.

That and the more i talked to my friends about guys i liked, my perfect kind of guy, what i wanted for my future, ect. the more they got comfortable, and i myself got comfortable, about the subject. It was a slow transition from "Im gay! Now lets not talk about it out of awkwardness" to "Im gay! Oooo, hes got a nice bum".

 

When I came out,I knocked the door off the hinges! I was 16,( this was in the late '70s).
I was just so sick of all the crap and when I came out,almost everyone knew.
My friends mom started the ball rolling by outing me to my mom.
Once that happened,I was so mad,I couldn't just shut up and let it be.
Nope,I went crazy and told just about anyone who would listen.
I don't suggest doing it this way,but it's how I handled it,at the time.

 

Once I stepped out, I didn't look back. For all I know, the closet's been torn down for kindling.

Lex

 

Greggers point about first negative experience is an interesting one. Had mine last week. I went out to dinner with some friends. Never during the dinner did we have any off color conversation. Though it would not take much to figure out we were a bunch of homos. The hair conversations pretty much gave it away. As were getting ready to leave this guy says "finally, what y'all do is disgusting". I was like what the hell?? My friend made a comment about starting the hot gay sex and I said "If I knew that was going to happen I would have demanded we left sooner".

When that happened I knew that I was fully out. I mean hell a complete stranger picked up on the fact that I am gay. You have to be out for that to happen.

So I never did shut the door. I tore down the closet and built a garage to store the plans for the car I want to build someday. I think I'll keep the Christmas decorations in there also.

 

LOL. Love that story, cute (*hug*)

 

Pride in early 2007, when I was 17. I remember very clearly marching down a main road, surrounded by a whole heap of people who were marching for the same reason as I was, and a huge crowd of people watching and cheering. I had never felt so happy to be gay and I knew I wanted to stay a member of that awesome crowd.

 

And see, I didn't even step out. I took a shotgun to the lock and kicked the door open. :icon_bigg