The Coming Out Continuum
Coming out and living openly aren’t something you do once, or even for one year. It’s a journey that we make every single day of our lives. There are three broad stages that people move through on the coming out continuum. For each person it is a little different, and you may find that at times you move backward and forward through the phases all at once.
| Opening Up to Yourself. The period when your journey is beginning – when you’re asking yourself questions, moving toward coming out to yourself and perhaps the decision to tell others. | Coming Out. The period when you’re actively talking for the first time about your sexual orientation or gender identity with family, friends, co-workers, classmates and other people in your life. | Living Openly. The ongoing phase after you’ve initially talked with the people closest to you about your life as a GLBT person, and are now able to tell new people that come into your life fluidly – where and when it feels appropriate to you. |
Opening Up to Yourself. The period when your journey is beginning – when you’re asking yourself questions, moving toward coming out to yourself and perhaps the decision to tell others. Coming Out. The period when you’re actively talking for the first time about your sexual orientation or gender identity with family, friends, co-workers, classmates and other people in your life. Living Openly. The ongoing phase after you’ve initially talked with the people closest to you about your life as a GLBT person, and are now able to tell new people that come into your life fluidly – where and when it feels appropriate to you.
The list goes on from there. For example, every time you go on vacation with a partner, you may be asked if you and your "friend" would like separate beds. You will then have a choice to make about whether or not you choose that moment to explain that this person is not your friend, but rather your partner or spouse.
Whether it’s proclaimed by a Human Rights Campaign sticker, a rainbow flag or a picture of a partner on your desk, there are a variety of ways that people incorporate coming out into everyday life so that they are able to live openly in a way that feels natural and comfortable.