Coming out as a part of the LGBTQIA+ community can be a scary, exciting, long, short, big, or small process. There is no one ‘right’ way or time to come out.
Here at Bookstr, this month (and every month) we are striving to highlight members of the LGBTQIA+ community and show why representation matters. One way to become more educated on LGBTQ+ topics is to read books by queer authors. However, what often precedes gaining authority as an LGBTQ+ author is some sort of coming out. Here are 15 authors and their thoughts on coming out and how the coming out process affected them and their writing.
1. Gabby Rivera on one’s ‘responsibility’ after coming out:
2. Maia Kobabe on the difficulty in finding a way to express their identity as a non-binary person:
3. Casey McQuiston on how coming out made them feel complete:
4. Leah Johnson on the catharsis of coming out:
5. Abdi Nazemian on the importance of creating a safe space for others to feel comfortable coming out:
6. George M. Johnson on why the messaging around ‘coming out’ should be changed:
7. Roxanne Gay on the welcoming nature of the LGBTQ+ community:
8. Maggie Thrash on why coming out can be hard when someone is unsure of a label:
9. Jacob Tobia on the ‘coming-out-story’ and what LGBTQ+ people owe to the world:
10. Sarah Waters on why coming out can be important:
11. Celia Laskey on queer representation and the portrayal of the coming out story in literature:
12. Naoise Dolan on her inner conflict of whether or not to come out:
13. Angela Chen on how they were treated differently after coming out as asexual:
15. Ilana Masad on National Coming Out Day and the importance of continuing inclusion efforts:
For more LGBTQIA+ content, click here!