I think I realised it when I was around fifteen years old...

or at least that’s when I started to investigate that part of myself. There were some signals before that but I was just too busy with other things to be open to those signals. It took me a while and I think I first came out to someone when I was 17.
I wanted to come out because I felt like I had this ‘big secret’ and I just wanted to share it with my close friends. I felt like that could also help me with accepting that part of myself. I feared that people would see me in a different way, even though I would be the exact same person as before. Or that it would create very awkward situations with friends.

In general people reacted in a very positive way after coming out. However, the very first time I came out was to one of my best friends at the time, and that didn’t go so well, resulting in losing that friend. However, I do think that I came out stronger and more confident after processing that. It made me realise who my real friends were and it made me closer to them.

I would pass on people who haven't come out yet that...

even though coming out can be hard sometimes, there are always great people that will accept you for who you are. Sometimes the hardest part is to accept yourself, but if you do, you will see that there are so many other nice people like you, and you are certainly not alone with your struggles. The queer community is just one big party of amazing people.

Being queer is quite a substantial part of who I am and things I am passionate about. I feel like it made more open-minded to the wide variety of people in society. I always take it into account during the projects I do and the courses I take.