Personal Milestones in the Coming Out Experience

The Pew Research Center’s survey of 1,197 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults asked respondents about three key points in their coming out journey—when they first felt they might be something other than straight or heterosexual, when they knew for sure they were LGBT and when they first told a close friend or family member. The distribution of survey responses for each key point, along with medians, is shown below.