Coming out gay--and happy.

• Author: Fischer, Ryan
• Position: Voices

ST. LOUIS PARK, MINN.--My name is Ryan, I'm a freshman, and I am gay.

I finally came out this year. I told one of my best friends first. I went to her after class and said, "What would you say if I told you I was gay?" She said, "I would say that it's really cool, because I'm bi."

That was huge to me, because I didn't understand how she could admit that so easily. She asked if I wanted to come out to anyone else, or if it was a secret. I took a chance, and told her she could tell everyone.

Coming out was hard and scary. We have homophobic people in our school, and being gay is not right or normal to them. Growing up, I was always asked if I was gay, and I always denied it. Still, people would physically and verbally abuse me, because they assumed I was gay.

Eventually, my self-esteem fell so low that I didn't even want to live. I tried to kill myself a number of times, and was put on an antidepressant medication.

I finally just stopped caring what people thought about me. Now, I am proud to say that I'm off the medication, and I'm happy for the first time in my life. I am free to be myself.

I am also lucky. I have supportive parents, a loving boyfriend, good friends, and good grades. I am so thankful for all of that; I know it doesn't work that way for everyone.

When some relatives wouldn't accept me, my dad said that if they had a problem with me, they obviously had a problem with him, and he wasn't going to stand for that.

My friends were proud of me for coming out, and not ashamed in the least.

One day I was walking out of...