9781422283769

WHAT I T ME ANS TO COME OUT 13

National Coming Out Day in Washington, D.C.

The HRC identifies three main stages to this complicated process. The first is Opening Up to Yourself , when individuals fully recognize and accept that they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. As with each of the stages, this takes a different amount of time for each person. Some people may reach personal acceptance when they are still children, whereas others may not acknowledge their sexuality or gender identity until they are adults. Once a person comes to terms with his or her own identity, a lot of careful consideration usually occurs before proceeding to the second stage, which is Coming Out . This involves actively discussing one’s sexual orientation