I've been pretty much openly gay, just sort of telling people at work about it when it comes up in conversation. This has lead to some mildly entertaining conversation. Replacing names of the people I'm talking to with single letters here. Discussing ordering a virtual private server with a friend: Me: Yeah so we can order the server from Ukraine and then have all of our BitTorrent traffic go through there, protecting us from copyright infringement trolls. D: Cool, let me know when you're about to order it and we'll set it up. Me: Just one thing though. D: Yeah? Me: ...well I'll probably have some questionable content on there. D: Oh? Me: I mean nothing like, illegal... er, well nothing particularly disagreeable, at least I don't think. D: ... Me: So I like guys. D: *laughs* No worries. That was the first coworker that I told. Later: A: *points at my keyring* That's a pretty neat leatherman you have there. Is that a Squirt ES3? Me: ES4. I got it from Adafruit, she used to offer them with Torx screws instead of rivets so you could change them around but they don't make them without rivets anymore. A: Nice. So you said "she"... Me: Limor Fried. She's this awesome hacker chick who sells kits and tools online. A: Is she hot? Me: *google image searches Limor Fried* A: Okay, so kind of cute. Me: Meh, I like guys. A: *laughs* ... wait, seriously? Me: Yep. A: Oh I thought you were kidding. Well that's cool. Then me and A had a discussion about how straight people tend to think he's gay, but not gay people. I think my favorite is: Me: *after somebody said something that was just BEGGING for this* That's what she said. R: Yeah, right. When's the last time you've been with a woman? Me: Well I'm gay so... never? group laughter R: That's deflecting the question.
I'm happy to share. Aye, it's a predominantly male work environment, so I was pleasantly surprised by the reactions I've been getting. I don't know if it's the tech industry, Austin, or just the fact that it's not 1950 anymore, but I'm hard pressed to find somebody who actually has a problem with me being gay.