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A Guide to coming out of the Closet and living as yourself.

By: DJ McDonald

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Helpful IdeasSome helpful ideas ive learned through my own experience of coming out.

• Timing is everything: sometimes there is not a good time to say things. But make sure when you do decide to come out make sure you are ready. The time to tell my parents was when they asked me if i knew my cousin was gay, so the timing could not have been better.

• Find Friends: When i decided to come out, i went to my friends first, so i knew i atleast had some support. And it was the best decision i ever could have made.

• Come Out on Your Terms: Dont let anyone tell you when to do it. Like I said before, timing is evereything.

• Dont underestimate your family: I thought my family would never accept me for me, which they have. They gave a complete 360 degrees in my eyes. While i know not every family is accepting, yours might suprise you, like mine did.

3Day Of Silence

-The National Day of Silence is a day of action in which students across the country vow to take a form of silence to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools and for those who are afraid to come out because of it.

-The Day of Silence demonstration has become the largest single student-led action towards creating safer schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Organizing a Day of Silence activity or event can be a positive tool for change-both personally and community-wide. By taking a vow of silence, you’re making a powerful statement about the important issue of anti-LGBT bullying,and when you organize others to join you that message becomes stronger.

So Start your own DAY Of SILENCE, SAVE THE DATE. April 19th!!!

Photo Credit By: Day of Silence.org

4Pop Cultures Contribu-tion To Coming Out In Todays Society

Credits: top pic(ABC Studios); Bottom Left(Entertainment Weekly) Bottom right( Focus Features)

In Recent Years, the media has led to the implementation of many positive LGBT characters on television, movies, etc. It is only fitting that the accaptance and underatnding of the LGBT commu-nity has only grown nationally in recent years. NOw more than ever younger generations of LGBT people are seeing themselves repre-sented in various media formats and now can say they see “them-selves”.