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Outing Yourself: How to Come Out as Lesbian or Gay to Your Family, Friends, and Coworkers from the UK, Canada, Germany or France by clicking an appropriate flag below.
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No matter how much you prepare, coming out as gay or lesbian is a difficult, emotional process -- a process that will continue long after the words are spoken and the secret is out. There's no magic formula, but
Outing Yourself by Michelangelo Signorile offers structure, guidance, and straightforward advice to all those:
WHO ARE STRUGGLING WITH THEIR SEXUALITY AND UNSURE OF WHAT TO DO
WHO HAVE ACCEPTED THAT THEY ARE GAY BUT ARE STILL AFRAID TO COME OUT
WHO CONSIDER THEMSELVES OUT OF THE CLOSET BUT REALIZE THEY HAVE FARTHER TO GO
Signorile's 14-step program -- complete with exercises, meditation notes, and anger checks, as well as the accounts of the coming-out experiences of other lesbians and gay men -- shows how you can successfully handle this life-changing, life-renewing process. A guide for the coming-out journey, Outing Yourself will convince all who read it that, in the words of the author, "The stress of coming out will never be as hard on you as the stress of staying in was."
Customer Rating: 



Review Summary: excellent guide - go at your own pace
Review: This book is excellent. I wish I had found it 10 years earlier - it could have saved me a lot of agony. It explains the various levels and stages of coming out rather than making it seem like one huge thing you have to do all at once. It breaks it down into sections like acknowleding to yourself that you are gay and becoming more comfortable with that as well as coming out to friends, family, co-workers, the world at large, etc. I think most gay people will see themself in this book probably several times over. By the time I read it, I had already worked my way through several of the steps on my own but it was nice to realize that others went through similar stages and that I had made more progress than I had thought. What I loved most about this book is that you can read just the sections that concern you or the whole book but that it helps you to progress at your own pace through the various stages. It reminds you that everyone's time scale is different and that you should only move on to another step when you feel ready to do so. There are practical suggestions and stories of other people's experiences. I would recommend this book to anyone who is gay whether they are just realizing that they are or even if they figure they are already out. I highly recommend this book.
Customer Rating: 



Review Summary: Still a classic!
Review: This was one of the first coming out books on the market in the 90's when gay self-help started exploding! Even today this is a great book as a first step and initial read to the coming out process. While not a psychotherapist, Signorile understands the psychological effects of the political arena suppressing us as gays and lesbians and keeping us in the closet.
Perhaps the best thing about this book is purchasing it in your local bookstore and experiencing the clerk and those around you watching you buy it. That might just be a good first step to "outing yourself".
I recommend to my heterosexual students that they do this very thing and see what it is like to go to a bookstore and purchase a book about "outing yourself" and risking the clerk and those around you think that you are gay. An excellent way to look at your own homophobia!
Customer Rating: 



Review Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: Don't waste your money! To come out, sit your mom, dad, friend, or whomever down somewhere where the two of you can be alone for a few minutes, then just tell them. Then ask that they not tell anybody else until you have told the people you wish to tell personally. You will find that most people already knew or suspected, don't care, and love you just as much. Even those for whom it's a surprise will most likely not be bothered and love you just as much. If there is anybody it does bother, well, best to know now. This book is third rate psychobabble, don't waste your money.
Customer Rating: 



Review Summary: Excellent book
Review: I like the way this book deals with homophobia, with patience and understanding, instead of anger. I wish I'd had this book earlier, before coming out to some of my friends, I wouldn't have taken their rejection so personally.
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Review Summary: Still in!
Review: I found this book extremely helpful...it gave me some good points about who to come out to first and when to come out. I am very much still in the closet but reading this book has helped me to understand how much my life will change once I do come out to more people and especially when I come out to my parents!