Ryan Fan

I am a woman. I can — and I will — do and learn whatever I need to survive and I won’t be made to feel ashamed of it.

I am no longer willing to stay put and keep my mouth shut. I refuse to conform to an outdated norm. I will take the initiative to learn how to protect myself and if that makes me unfeminine, so be it.

The best any of us can do is acknowledge how we feel and vow to behave differently from what our feelings might dictate.

…elings you have. We suffer a frisson of internal insult when we think of OURSELVES as gay. How not? The same environment that produced it in you produces it in us.

But despite a fairly positive initial response, he lost friends and became the occasional target of homophobic slurs.

But coming out was still a mixed bag for him. He was thrilled in one respect, because he had a boyfriend and he could be open about it.

But coming out was still a mixed bag for him. He was thrilled in one respect, because he had a boyfriend and he could be open about it.

I take a deep breath every single time I tell somebody I’m gay. I fight a strong urge to just keep quiet. Every. Single. Time.

I take a deep breath every single time I tell somebody I’m gay. I fight a strong urge to just keep quiet. Every. Single. Time.

I’d love feedback from those of you who’ve followed this advice to hear if it’s helped you garner additional reads.