Hey, I am a junior in high school who lives with his mom. I actually had a sudden spark of confidence and came out to her nearly two years ago, and she was okay with it albeit in disbelief and shock. I felt incredibly anxious after my confession so I sort of stepped back into the closet and claimed it was for a Health Communication Project (Not kidding). Unfortunately, she bought it after some reassurance and questioning. For some reason I am incredibly insecure about my sexuality. Heck, my best friend is a lesbian from Puerto Rico and she's doing much better than me coming out. I'm scared of coming out as it being a major permanent change on how I am perceived that I will never have control of again. As a token of my outstanding friendship with my best friend, I am mailing her a high-quality plushie commission of one of her favorite characters (Pinkie Pie) this Christmas among other things, including a note that confirms light-heartedly that I am technically gay. I am somewhat close to my mother, brother, and my cousin, and I do have my aunt who happens to be bisexual but i'm not sure what steps to take as they all presume me to be straight, especially given that I dated a girl for over a year that I really liked as a friend and couldn't accept rejecting her. I don't even really know who to begin to talk to as I haven't even had an honest conversation about my own sexuality. I guess what i'm trying to say is that I am not sure what step to take next. :X ^ Sorry for the big wall of text, haha.
Hi there! Sorry you didn't get a response earlier. If you are (to use your words) "incredibly insecure about [your] sexuality," I think a good approach would be for you to figure your sexual identity out for yourself first. Having some of the answers will help you to feel securer and more confident about yourself, which in turn will make coming out as [label] a lot easier. In figuring things out, maybe don't attach a label at this point but rather give yourself the permission to really explore all of your feelings that you are experiencing. So maybe instead of saying "I'm gay" why not try saying "I'm questioning my sexuality and here are my thoughts about it all." Talking to someone about it could help, and trying to talk with your friend, would be a good idea. You could also try talking to a counselor at your school. In fact, a counselor could be an important part of your support network, and someone to whom you could really open up about it all. Sometimes, when we talk about things, we also start listening. Once we start doing that, things start to make more sense, or lead us onto a path that we haven't seen before.
