What was the most effective way for you to come out of the closet? What was the worst thing you ever said or did when coming out to someone?

My most effective way is just being brutally honest with my situation in life. I make no apologies for who i am.

My worst way was to blurt out that i was a cross-dresser (I was in denial about being TS) and then show my entire album of photos as proof of my story.

Well, the first person I came out to was my mother, and I definitely could have done it much better (in my defense, I was still a middling teen then >.> ). I basically just told her that I needed to become a girl, and then effectively went into damage control right away. That went very badly.

After that, I did it over AIM, since its pretty much the medium of choice among most of my peers, and it was easier to manage and organize my thoughts and what I wanted to say, while still being able to respond and talk to them about it. I thought it a rather good way all in all.

Since then... I've been telling people as they start to wonder about various things about me, like my changing appearance. I think I've gotten a lot more comfortable at just telling people about it over time, as I've become more secure about my identity. It really doesn't do much good to worry too much about what the other person may think. Whether they like it or not, you're not going to be able to change for them. It works out most of the time.

I'm completely out.... It came out accidental to my parents... and I trusted my close friends with my secret, since most of them are Gay and understanding.

My friends don't think any different of me now that they know i'm a transexual, and my gal friends even go shopping with me for new clothing. My friend Sam picked out a nice blouse and a skirt for me the other day. She doesn't have bad fashion sense for a tomboy ^_^

My brother thinks i'm weird, and my dad doesn't agree with my decision to live as a woman, but I can understand... People tend to reject what they can't understand and i'm sure the concept of gender confusion is new to them both. Beside's my brother thought I was wierd to begin with ^_^

My mother is very understanding of my situation and gives me so much support. She even gave me some of her old clothes in my early days out of the closet.

I told my mom when she was still alive, straight out...a few days later it seemed like she started drinking a "vile substance" or at least thats when I found out for the first time....I feel like I killed her(I KNOW I didn't though...), so I don't know how I'll be coming out to my dad, but I will sometime, I'm getting sick of this pain...
then I told my aunt straight out, and she thought I was joking....