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Coming out at school?

Discussion in 'Gender Identity and Expression' started by Skater, Aug 12, 2015.

  1. Skater

    Regular Member

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    Hi friends, school starts next week and I'm really anxious. Alongside general anxieties surrounding the start of a new semester, I've been really concerned about how to announce my correct pronouns to teachers and peers. I've heard of people emailing their teachers, but I was wondering if anyone had any other advice/resources?? It's also difficult because they/them pronouns and nonbinary identities are hard to explain, and I expect to break down if things go badly. I'm scared, I have no idea what I'm doing and I don't wanna ruin the year with this.
     
  2. FootballFan101

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    Id say wait some people still haven't heard about non-binary in general so it may confuse people looking at your age you have 1-2 years left it might be a more well known gender when you are in collage so wait until then
     
  3. Skater

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    I don't want to wait.
     
  4. FootballFan101

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    Well i say go for it
     
  5. MsEmmzy

    Full Member

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    Location:
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    Gender:
    Female (trans*)
    Gender Pronoun:
    She
    Sexual Orientation:
    Other
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    If you don't want to wait, but are afraid of things going wrong, why not come out gradually? I'm not sure your out status, but start with some close friends. Then move on to your classmates and teachers. By then word should start to spread and you probably won't have to deal with it all at once. Maybe make it a longer term goal? Instead of being completely out right away, like try to be completely out by the end of the year.

    Trust me I feel your pain.. going through pretty much the exact same thing right now :/ I'd really say just take your time and try not to rush things too much. Being anything other than cis and straight, especially in high school, means that things WILL go badly. It may not be that bad depending on where you go to school, but there's always someone wanting to ruin someone else's day. This is why I say take your time. It's like building a wall. You start with the bottom and keep adding. As the wall gets taller, it also gets stronger and can protect you from more.

    Remember to be open to questions from others and that generally being friendly and helpful will get better results than clamming up and getting angry. (Talking from personal experience with my mom here). Like Barcafan said, people don't really know about many of the non-binary genders yet. Chances are, a lot of people will be more curious about it than anything else. Being prepared to answer questions should help a bit to stop you breaking down.

    Hoo boy I feel like that was a long post... Oh well. Hopefully I've been useful! Best of luck (*hug*)