Closeted folks, how much do you fear being outed accidentally or intentionally?

I'm not really all that worried about being outed without my consent when it comes to my romantic orientation or lack of sexuality, because there's only one person in my famly who is against non-heterosexuality, my grandmother, but she's become quiet about her objections, and even she knows I'm bi. It's my atheism that I'm really closeted about. Any family member who is a friend of mine on facebook knows I'm an atheist, but I'm closeted to my grandmother, I mean REALLY closeted, because she was upset when I left the catholic church for the methodist church, but now, I think if I tell her I'm an atheist, she'll go batsh*t crazy, and start telling me I'll burn in hell for not finding her religion convincing. I mean it's not my fault that I don't find the god story convincing. But whatever.

Sorry, I went off on a tangent.

 

Honestly, I think I'd find to be kind of a relief. I don't think anyone in my family is "against" being LGBT or anything, but that doesn't mean I'm up for the task of actually telling anyone about the fact that I don't think I'm straight. But if someone else did it for me...

 

It scares me alot

 

I only came out to my parents in January this year. For a very long time I was terrified of being outed. I joined gay groups about 2 years ago. I started slowly risking befriending people I've met in them on Facebook, thinking that the moment I did my Mum would twig - which she didn't. I then even 'liked' the photo from the Christmas do of one of them - she still didn't. In the end I realised that I probably secretly wanted her to find out and I wanted to be able to go to groups without worrying about finding explanations for my parents - so in the end I just told her. It went absolutely fine and has been a relief (if an anti-climax) ever since.

 

A fair amount. I'm not ready to deal with all the drama.

 

None at all. I would feel relieved to just have it be done. I'm on the verge of coming out to my immediate family in either case. I've stood up against my brothers "slandering" LGBT and openly spoke about how I support LGBT, with that in mind it wouldn't even surprise me if they already know:lol:

 

When I finally accepted myself for who I am, I already had a game plan for walking out of the closet.

 

The worst thing I think above all else is to be outed. That is so far out of order it really gets my blood boiling

Perez Hilton used to do and many press still do it, I believe a certain US magazine is in the process of this. It cannot comprehend how any outlet has the right to do this. Its such a personal thing - the most personal and for some people, infact probably most of us, the hardest thing we've ever done or will have do. Do the public really want or need to know? Do they really care? Is it in the public interest? And WHY haven't they told the world? The old arguments "He/she should be proud and show themselves to encourage others" Bollocks. Your a nasty editor who wants to shift more of your nasty magazines.

Its particularly 'not on' when you have press papers outing people who aren't even to their family and friends. That's lower than low.

 

While I'm not as scared of being outed as I used to be, the thought of it still doesn't bring me any solace. As long as I'm free to come out to my own terms, I'm fine with letting other people know.

 

A fair amount, to be honest. A couple of my "bad" friends (no longer friends) used to practically walk right up to someone and be like- "Hey, you see that guy over there? He's actually a girl!". Upon which I would get royally pissed, but I always used to be to nervous and shy to actually tell them off. Which, of course, resulted in me feeling like a piece of crap whilst my so-called friend giggled and the person they had just outed me to stared at me like I was some animal in a zoo. It's like, thanks guys, but if I had wanted them to know i would've let them know.
Once I had realized that I am gay (thought I was bisexual, then finally accepted that I'm not attracted to girls), and as the two go hand in hand in my case, it actually became a bit worse because I was convinced that when people inevitably found out they would discredit me as a guy because of the whole hetero-normality mindset general society has cultivated. But then, thankfully, I met a little group of people (well, I met two people who were connected to different groups who sat together at the school mess, and they introduced me to the others) who are super supportive of each other and welcomed me with open arms. Sort of. More like they just stared at me for a moment, then accepted my presence and made space for me in their conversation. They're always really careful about accidental outing and are always there to talk to, which is great, and they've helped me be less high-strung about myself. It's kinda like a little private support group, except the only thing you have to do to join is ask. No guarantee you'll stay, however.

The ironic thing about my situation is that I'm the most afraid of being outed or just plain coming out to my uncle, who is part of the LGBTQ community himself and super supportive. It makes no sense, but there you are.

Sorry I typed so much just had a lot to say, and my storytelling shtick gets ahold of me sometimes.

 

Not worried about being outed for my sexuality --- would make for many awkward conversations with family members and would probably have a few disown me, but I'm strong enough to handle those scenarios.

My gender, on the other hand? The mere thought terrifies me at this point in my life, especially given where I live.

 

If it was year or two ago, I would of been paranoid, but now I kind of want to be outed. It's mostly because I have trouble telling people that I'm gay and it would make me the center of attention, and I hate being the center of attention.

 

I've am very paranoid about this! That's why everytime I open EC, I make sure that they are not around and everytime I logout at EC I make sure that I deleted my history. I also didnt tell anyone (excluding 2 of my friends whom I can only meet online) about my sexuality or even give them hints. I hope this wont happen to other people because it feels horrible.

 

I'm really the kind of person who just rolls with the punches. I don't wish to be outed, but if I am, then I'll reassess the situation and figure it out.

 

afaik most if not all browsers have a "stealth" mode (e.g. Chrome has incognito and Internet Explorer has InPrivate) that doesn't store your history so you don't have to worry about deleting it

anywho whether or not i'm worried about being outed depends on my mood. most of the time the thought of it completely terrifies me. but sometimes i'm just like "fuck it world I dare you to out me to all of the homophobes i'm surrounded by, i'll be the most badass fabulous person ever." but eh I don't have to worry much about it to begin with since the chances of me getting outed are almost zero due to me being pro at keeping a low profile 8).

 

Apart from my father, who I don't think will be accepting, I'm actually not that afraid of being outed, surprisingly. I'm actually more afraid people will think I'm an idiot for waiting so long to be myself than I am of any potential homophobia. My friends and coworkers are pretty liberal. That said, if I weren't scared at all I'd already be out, so there you go...

 

The only people I am truly scared to have find out are my parents. Though I want them to know eventually... When I'm ready.

Other people? I would kinda like them to know. But I am a little nervous about it. I probably wouldn't mind too much if someone told them... Even though I specifically told my brothers not to tell anyone...

I dunno.