Two young people share their experiences on how coming out as gay in school affected them.
Ben Summer, now 23, of Leeds, was forced to come out at the age of 14 when his friend started to spread the fact that he was gay around school, after Ben confided in him.
Ben said: “It made me feel very isolated because I had trusted him completely.
“I went to my head of year to tell them about what happened and the only thing they told me to do was to tell my parents”.
Ben eventually told his parents, who were very supportive, but the school didn’t offer any other support for him. He said: “The school stopped their communication with me which made me super uncomfortable.”
Luca Belladonne, now 20, came out to his friends and family aged 12. His experience was much different to Ben’s.
Luca said: “ Honestly I think I was pretty lucky. I told my friends first and they were all nice about it, sort of just a ‘yeah we guessed’ and we moved on.
“I like that it wasn’t a big deal even to my family it just kind of helped it feel normal and there was no pressure on me after that.”
‘Coming out’ day is celebrated on the 11th October and supports those in the community who have ‘come out’ or who wish to do so.
‘Coming out’ is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ+ people revealing their gender identity and/or sexual orientation.
Lukasz Konieczka, co-founder of Mosaic LGBT Youth Centre in London shared his views on his advice for young people coming out. He said: “ It’s all about taking your time. You’ve got to figure out who you are first.
“Its okay to not know but the community is stronger than it has ever been so there are lots of places that can support you.”
here are some links below to charities that work to support young LGBTQ+ people.
