Came out on FB this week. Hope this can help anyone thinking of doing the same.

This week I came out on Facebook. I had already told my family and closest friends but I just wanted to get it out there for my more distant friends/co-workers. I thought I would share what I wrote to help others who are struggling with coming out. It took me years to be able to tell my family and many many months before I felt ready to share on Facebook. I read lots of other coming out stories which really helped me so I hope this can help you. My family are still struggling to come to terms with it but I am hopeful that they will get there. My Facebook friends have responded better than I could have ever hoped and I am certain that the world is beginning to change."Some of you may have been expecting to see this for a while, for others it will be a surprise. I have been waiting to tell you this for a long time. Last year, I came out to myself. I thought that would be the hardest part.Last month I came out to my parents who have painfully expressed their concern, disappointment and disapproval. That has been the hardest part.I have put together my jigsaw and finally figured out who I am and most importantly, what makes me happy. My shock and absolute heartbreak at their reaction continues to go through the motions and until they decide to speak to me again, writing this is my way of dealing with it. Although it isn't an excuse, I guess that they are worried about what others will think.This is my message to everyone who isn't sure what to thinkI like women. That doesn't mean that I like all women. In the same way that I like cake, that doesn’t mean I like all types of cake. Right now, I'm dating a woman. That doesn't mean that I'll never date a man again. Today, I ate a fudge cake, that doesn’t mean I’ll never eat red velvet again. That doesn't mean I'm indecisive. That doesn’t mean I’m going through a phase. What makes me happy right now, is just that. I'm happy.That doesn't mean that I fit every stereotype in that box you have already put me in. Who I date, who makes me smile, who I look forward to seeing at the end of a hard days work is in no way more important than whoever or whatever does those same things for you.Love makes us kind if we let it, so I think it’s worth a try.I will give nobody room for silent judgment over who I decide makes me happy. I work hard and godamn me if I play hard too because I deserve it. And that is as much justification I will ever give for being true to myself. These past few weeks have been filled by silent anxiety and more tears than I can ever remember letting fall. I don’t know how to describe how it feels to have opened up so many vulnerabilities and to have been shot down so quickly.My reasons for sharing this are completely selfish in a hope that it will lift some weight from my shoulders but now I can say that I am out and I am most definitely proud"