The following article comes from , our sister site devoted to providing mental health resources related to the LGBTQ+ community:

Trapped in The Closet: Mental Health Implications for LGBTQ+ Youth

By Kierson Romero

"What's the big deal? Why don't you just tell people and get it over with?"

These are the words that I heard from a classmate at my undergrad when my best friend was trying to explain the fear he had about coming out to the rest of our school as trans. I felt chills run down my back and an ache in my stomach as I listened to my friend try to calmly explain that coming out wasn't just a choice about privacy but one about safety and survival. []