Article image

14 Quotes About Coming Out

For many people in the LGBTQ+ community, an important part of fully expressing your identity is “coming out,” whether that means sharing who you are publicly, or with only a few close friends or family members, or simply making an acknowledgment to yourself.

Coming out can feel daunting — either from fear of others’ reactions or the feeling that your life will change irrevocably after that point. (Though it’s important to note that many of those changes can be positive ones, such as finding meaningful community and representation.) No matter how you step into your identity, the end goal is hopefully the same: to let breathe a part of yourself that is important and valuable. Here, we’ve gathered quotes about coming out to bolster you if you’re considering taking that momentous step, or to support you if it still feels intimidating. As actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein has said, “Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself."

Don’t come out unless you want to. Don’t come out for anyone else’s sake. Don’t come out because you think society expects you to. Come out for yourself. Come out to yourself. Shout, sing it. Softly stutter.
Dean Atta, author

Share Quote

If you possess enough courage to speak out what you are, you will find you are not alone.
Richard Wright, author

Share Quote

Freedom isn't just about voting and marrying and kissing on the street, although all of these things are important. Freedom is also about what you will allow yourself to do.
David Levithan, author

Share Quote

The only difference is that we love differently and we express ourselves differently. Rather than being chastised for that we should be commended for being brave. That’s the most important thing: giving people the space to show up fully as who they are.
Cynthia Erivo, actor and singer

Share Quote

Only by speaking out can we create lasting change. And that change begins with coming out.
DaShanne Stokes, sociologist

Share Quote

If people are not able to come out to friends and family, come out to yourself, disclose to yourself, and tell the truth first to yourself because that’s the most important thing.
Laverne Cox, actor and activist

Share Quote

The world is still so mind-bogglingly oppressive for so many in our community that it remains radical to be joyful.
Naomi McPherson, musician

Share Quote

Before I came out as trans, I was always hiding parts of myself, so I blended in more to the people around me. Once I came out, I didn’t really have to “blend in” anymore.
carpetgarden, musician

Share Quote

Getting comfortable with your sexuality is a process… Take it slow. It can define you as much as you want it to.
Shannon Purser, actor

Share Quote

By coming out to ourselves, we free up the energy we spent keeping a part of ourselves hidden.
Patrick Califia, author

Share Quote

There is only one of you in the world and you have one life, so be the best version of yourself and be proud of who you are. That’s when you attract the right people around you to make you better, and ultimately, happier.
Mel Reid, golfer

Share Quote

[Coming out] was so important to me because it’s a big part of an internal struggle of mine, and I’m obviously proud of it, but at the same time there was this really deep feeling of shame. I just wanted to… be real with myself.
Rina Sawayama, musician

Share Quote

When we choose to live authentically we chip away at others’ prisons of pretend and create an opportunity for them to walk out of darkness into freedom.
Anthony Venn-Brown, author

Share Quote

Photo credit: Roland Magnusson/ iStock

Author image
About the Author
Paola Bennet
Paola Bennet is a writer based in Brooklyn, NY. She writes a fortnightly newsletter that treasures the mundane, called Small Histories. Find her on Instagram @paolafbennet.
Play more header background
Play more icon
Daily Question
Who said, "Jump off the cliff and learn how to make wings on the way down"?

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

separator icon
Ralph Waldo Emerson
motivation theme icon

That virtue we appreciate is as much ours as another’s. We see so much only as we possess.

separator icon
Henry David Thoreau
hope theme icon

There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.

separator icon
Vicki Baum
love theme icon

The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

separator icon
Eden Phillpotts
wisdom theme icon

A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.

separator icon
Helen Keller
happiness theme icon

If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living.

separator icon
Gail Sheehy
motivation theme icon

The chief prevention against getting old is to remain astonished.

separator icon
Kevin Kelly
hope theme icon

There is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it.

separator icon
Amanda Gorman
love theme icon

If grass can grow through cement, love can find you at every time in your life.

separator icon
Cher
wisdom theme icon

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.

separator icon
Richard Bach
happiness theme icon

The truth is the light and light is the truth.

separator icon
Ralph Ellison