I came out on discord as aro/ace on June 6th. I have been struggling to come out to my family and friends ever since. It makes me really paranoid, and I can use all of the advice I can get. I do not know what my parents think of the LGBTQ+ community.
WAYS TO HELP YOURSELF
- First of all, thank you so much for sharing your story with us at TeenCentral. Feeling paranoid is a totally valid feeling in this situation; it can be scary to tell someone something about yourself, such as sexual orientation, and not know how they would react.
- The choice to come out is a personal one, and no one can make that decision besides you. We have a detailed page on TeenCentral talking about things you may want to consider before coming out. You can also reference our worksheet on “Making Hard Decisions” located under the Tools tab
- Lastly, we think it is important to always consider your own self care routine. Whether you decide to come out of the closet or not, it can be mentally exhausting to weigh the pros and cons. It may be useful to create a self-care routine or utilize your self-care routine if you already have one.
CONSIDER THIS
- Coming out to your parents can be extremely stressful, both for the person coming out and for the parents. If you do decide to come out to your parents, they may have a lot of questions about what it means to be asexual or aromantic.
- Try to prepare in advance by thinking about the coping skills you can use both in the moment when you are talking with them, and then later on after the conversation is over. Here are some tools that can help:
- There is absolutely no shame in staying in the closet if you are not comfortable coming out or if you think it is unsafe for you to do so.
- If you are feeling unsafe about this situation, or if you require more resources, the Trevor Project has some additional resources to utilize, including a suicide prevention hotline for LGBT+ people.
- The Oxford LGBT Society has a whole page on Ace/Aro Resources, feel free to check it out!
- It also maybe helpful to reach out to your local LGBT+ Center, if one is in your community. They often have advocates and support groups for people who share similar identities.
