[xDramatick]

I'm gay too, I've come out to my mum, and all my friends.

With my friends, I told the one who I thought, or knew, would be the most accepting. Luckily for me, one of my best friends is one of the most accepting people I know and she was fine with it. That was almost five years ago. Then slowly, as the years gone by, I came out to more and more people. It is a slow process, but some of my friends wouldn't have been as mature five years ago then say, two. I'd much rather have done it that way. Obviously I didn't just say 'hey guess what i'm gay' to them, some required more hints and stuff [as previously said by HUGO^] but some I just came out with it. Another thing I did to lessen the reaction was start of by telling some of the friends who I thought would be awkward with it that I was bisexual, and then just slowly changed it to gay over the time by mentioning guys all the time etc. If I'm honest, the main way that all my friends have become to accept it, is just by getting used to it all the time. I get all the gay jokes and stuff but it's in light-hearted humour, so I can laugh about it. I guess I'm lucky to have amazing mates.

If your friends don't accept you, they're not great friends. Although I will say that it may not be that. If they don't know any gay people then give them time to get used to it. If they happen to be homophobic, I've learnt to not try and change that. As hard as it can be, if you're friends with someone anti-gay, then the best thing to do is refrain from talking about it with them. If they're openly abusive, then it's a big "**** you" and I walk away. Obviously that's just me but it's how I've become myself today.

As for my mother, I was six months into my relationship with my boyfriend, and I just sat her down [she's one of the most gay friendly people I know, looking back, idk why I didn't tell her earlier] and just explained in one nervous shaky ramble all about my boyfriend&sexuality. She was totally fine with it, and there's been no change in our relationship [well, we're a lot closer now]

The last thing I will advise, is not to get defensive or awkward if your friends or family ask you questions. If there's one thing I've learnt, it's to answer questions about my sexuality with complete honesty. They're bound to be curious [particularly if they don't know any other gay people] so accept the questions just as they should accept you.

I hope this helps, all from personal experience lol. If you need anymore advise or help, feel free to ask/U2U me.