Your experience telling people whilst questioning?

I'm struggling with the same thing myself, and have told exactly 2 people. I'm not exactly struggling with what I am. I'm fairly certain I am bisexual as I am physically attracted to both very much, but I have never been with a woman, so my struggle is more how it came about so late in life.... And WTH do I do now?
One is a man I am very much attracted to and interested in. We chat and flirt a lot and have for a few months, but a couple of things have prevented it from going further. He's fairly open minded and it was more of a mention than admission.
The other was a close friend. We haven't been friends for an extremely long time so I was worried she would think I was hiding it and it would come out creepy and be awkward. I knew she would be OK with it, but since this is all new, I guess I just really didn't know how and didn't want her thinking I was telling her because I wanted something to happen with her. Sooo ... One day I told her that I needed to tell her something and then, all in one big, long sentence said "I think there is a real possibility I am bisexual and I didn't know how to tell you and not freak you out and make you feel awkward and it be creepy cause I didn't want you to think i was hitting on you, but I don't have anyone to tell and .... " .. You get the picture. LOL
She laughed and said "THAT'S what you're worried about?" And then laughed some more in a good way that only a true friend can do... Since then she's been awesome and supportive and joked with me about it in a good way.
And yes... It was awesome to tell... Someone. To admit it, and for me, it kinda helped it settle in my own mind just a bit. It was a little bit of weight lifted. Fresh air. Comfortable.

 

So....here's my experience when telling people I was unsure or that I may be gay. Freshmen year of college, some friends and I were heading back from Walmart and we passed by someone I thought I might know. One thing led to another and the next thing I knew, I told them "I might be gay." To which, one responded "I think you're closer to bisexual but if you are gay, we will support you forever and ever." From then on, I simply told people 'I have no idea but I have a strong suspicion I might be gay." And everybody I encountered was fine with that and they all responded with, "I won't make you do anything that you don't want to do."

Like you, I was unsure what to tell people so I just told them the truth. In the end, honesty is the best policy.

 

For me it depends on the person if I tell him/her or not. Till now I told two friends and they were perfectly fine with it. Some of my friends don't know yet but I dropped a few hints. With them I feel like I need to be certain before coming out.

 

I think I am in a similar position to where you are as well: I have been questioning my sexuality for a couple of months and the only conclusion that I have come to is that I am not straight (somewhere between 2.5 and 5.5 on the Kinsey scale). The main problem for me is that I haven't had much experience with either sex, and it is unlikely I'm going to have a chance in the near future, so I'm probably going to be still questioning for a couple of year to come.

I have told three friends, two very close ones and one really new friend. The reaction from my 2 close friends was really supportive and they didn't make too much of a big deal about it because we had been friends for many years. I also randomly told a fairly new friend to test what it would be like if I came out. Luckily, she was fine with it and it isn't an issue in our friendship at all.

However, my biggest mistake was in telling my parents about my questioning. They are South Asian and fairly socially conservative, so when I told them "I might actually like guys" rather than girls, the completely dismissed me and said that I was going through a "phase" and the only reason I think I like guys is because I go to boys school and therefore I don't like girls. My dad also claimed that he wasn't into girls really during school and it was in only in his late twenties that he began to date girls. They were also worried that I might be being converted by a "gay pervert" at my school and my dad also gave me the useful example of a guy in his school who "acted gay" and thought he liked boys but "turned out fine" when he got older.

Although my parents weren't angry at me in any way (they were actually really quiet and listened to everything I said - sort of), it was really unhelpful for me because I went into complete denial about my questioning for a many months only to realise that I am not actually straight after all. However, I don't think that really applies to you because your pretty confident that your parents would support you whatever your sexuality is. But I would be careful about coming out to anyone that you know might be slightly homophobic or biphobic (i.e. they believe you can only like one gender or sexuality is a shoice). Even if they are nice, having someone who rejects you're questioning is really unhelpful as it lowers your confidence about your sexuality.

But overall, I think it is was really useful telling someone because it was a big weight lifted of my shoulders and now I have someone to talk to, so I feel less lonely about my questioning.

 

I've only told one friend, and I told her that I started questioning 3 years ago, and that I'm "not straight". I knew that I was into girls but I didn't know if I was exclusively into girls. I didn't want to say "I'm bisexual" and find out that I'm not, just as I didn't want to say "I'm a lesbian" and then have people doubt me if I started dating a guy. Plus, giving myself a label that I just didn't feel confident in didn't feel right.

I haven't told my parents, and I don't plan on telling them until I enter a relationship with a woman. Just because I think they'll be able to deal with it better knowing that I'm serious. Plus, we aren't the kind of family to talk about personal things like that, unless we have to. Bringing it up randomly would result in them wondering "why now?".

 

A few years ago I told two friends that I was suspected that I was aromantic. They didn't know what that was, so I explained that I wasn't experiencing romantic attraction for other people. One of them asked a few questions then we never spoke of it again. The other tried to convince me not to give up on romantic relationships. I left it alone after that, talking with friends in or with connections to the queer community instead.

I have told a few family members so far. The reactions were tentative acceptance, disbelief, and passive aggressive avoidance. That last one was from my bisexual sister.

What I suspected myself to be was obscure compared to being gay, but I've heard similar stories with more common orientations.

Some suggestions for telling while questioning:​

-emphasize that you are Questioning with a capital 'Q'
-make sure they know what you suspect you might be
-use terms that they can look up if needed, but don't overwhelm if they don't have much experience with the queer community
-don't take silence badly, sometimes they need to come to terms with the information
-remember that most people are ignorant of these things and may upset you accidentally
-if they suggest or ask that you consider the 'normal' options, explain that this isn't a consideration or decision, but an innate part of you (or however you want to phrase it)
-don't leave this alone forever if you stay friends with who you come out to
-if they ask why you didn't say anything before, explain that you are coming to terms with this still, so telling wasn't the most important thing before