I have a friend that I've known for almost my entire life and I've been wanting to come out her for a while. But she has made jokes and negative comments in the past about the LGBT community. I've tried to come out to her in the past but saw that she was getting really uncomfortable so I backed out. I want to be honest with her but I'm afraid she won't look at me the same way or make fun of me.
That sounds like a tough situation. I might not be the best person to give advice since I don't have experience with this, but it does sound like she might respond poorly. If you decide to come out to her, I would recommend stressing that you're not interested in her or mentioning someone else you find attractive, since it seems that homophobic people often assume you like them and get uncomfortable when you come out to them. Also, you could try talking about struggles faced by the LGBT+ community sometime, like recent hate crimes or discriminatory law proposals, to challenge her view of LGBT people as laughingstock and maybe start a conversation about the source of her negative views. But different people might react to that in different ways, so it depends on her personality. Good luck!
Hey Purple7, You should only Come Out to someone if/when you are ready to do so. You might want to list the pros and cons of Coming Out to her. A couple of things you might consider: - If you are still in the closet to any degree, you might also want to consider if you can trust the person that you are Coming Out to with that information - in other words, can you be sure that, regardless of their reaction, they will keep what you tell them private? - If she is a true friend and simply makes homophobic comments/remarks because she is ignorant about the LGBTQ community, she may actually become much more accepting and much better informed when she finds out that she has an LGBTQ friend. - If she is truly homophobic and doesn't want anything to do with you, are you o.k. with losing her as a friend? However, the flip side of that, is how much of a friend is she/can she be to you if you can't even be open about your sexuality with her and have to keep quiet when she makes homophobic remarks? Just some thoughts.
