Unexpected Coming Out Because Of Courageous Teammate

In attending college on of my personal social goals was to finally admit to myself (and others) that I am not straight. I was not planning on telling anyone for awhile because I have not quite come to terms with it yet however, that very unexpectedly changed today. After a hard XC workout our team was chilling in the locker room when one of the guys was randomly talking (lets call him Chris) and he brought up the subject of why he dosent think that it is offensive to call someone "faggy" or to tell someone that something they are doing or saying is really gay. Well one of my best friends on the team (lets call him Ryan) got really angry and told Chris that it was offensive and it was people like him that kept gay people hiding and ashamed. Chris then asked Ryan "what are you gay or something?". Ryan then replied "yeah" and while a few people laughed the whole locker room in general had the most awkward atmosphere ever. Fast forward to after dinner and I went to talk to Ryan. I asked him if he was actually serious because from the sounds of things people took it as if it were a really bad joke. He replied he wasn't kidding and I told him out of the blue "Well I really thought I was the only one on the team that was gay." After staring at me in complete disbelief for about 1 minute he said that first off he was really surprised and wouldn't have guessed that about me and secondly went on to inform me that no fewer than 5 of our 30 XC runners are gay! That was a huge shock to me. Not only is one of my best friends gay (just to note he's also incredibly good looking, the girls team nicknamed him Ryan Lochte) but so is 1/6 of the XC team. I am more than pleasently surprised and I never thought that coming out would be so easy and that there would actually be many people in the same boat as me. Moral of story: Do not assume things...you only know once you actually stick yourself out there how things really are. Also, if you are in a sport do not be afraid. I can't speak for other teams but my team treats everyone equally and with great support (except Chris when he's randomly talking) and I never knew that was possible! Being gay and being a great athlete are not mutally exclusive (I now finally fully realize that). Best wishes to everyone regardless of where they are on their journey. It appears as mine has just begun:icon_bigg!!!

 

Thanks for the support everybody.
Chip and Pret Alez- I guess I run because I have always really been really into sports but was really uncoordaintaed and not strong enough to do other sports and I also happen to be really freaking good at running (I don't ever know how that happened)...plus it gave me washboard abs and a sense of self-confidence which is nice.
Suffocation- Yeah I can't really post pics without him knowing but he does traithlons and has a swimmer's body and has a face and haircut just like Ryan Lochte. I will just say his nickname fits him well...

 

Ianthe- Yes I think I will try to go for it. I was really crushing on him before I knew and now that I know he actually is gay (and have the green light because he is somehow single) I will give it a shot.