{"id":40532,"date":"2013-06-13T12:00:37","date_gmt":"2013-06-13T17:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2013\/06\/13\/the-coming-out-experience-age-when-you-first-thought-knew-told\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T09:14:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:14:22","slug":"the-coming-out-experience-age-when-you-first-thought-knew-told","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2013\/06\/13\/the-coming-out-experience-age-when-you-first-thought-knew-told\/","title":{"rendered":"Personal Milestones in the Coming Out Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pew Research Center\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2013\/06\/13\/a-survey-of-lgbt-americans\/\">survey of 1,197 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults<\/a> asked respondents about three key points in their coming out journey\u2014when they <a href=\"#first-thought\">first felt<\/a> they might be something other than straight or heterosexual, when they <a href=\"#first-knew\">knew for sure<\/a> they were LGBT and when they <a href=\"#first-told\">first told<\/a> a close friend or family member. The distribution of survey responses for each key point, along with medians, is shown below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a name=\"first-thought\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2013\/06\/13\/the-coming-out-experience-age-when-you-first-thought-knew-told\/st_13-06-13_lgbt_firstthought-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f2f6f8\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f2f6f8;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"621\" height=\"820\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/06\/ST_13.06.13_LGBT_FirstThought.png?resize=480,634 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/06\/ST_13.06.13_LGBT_FirstThought.png?resize=621,820 621w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/06\/ST_13.06.13_LGBT_FirstThought.png?w=621\" alt=\"ST_13.06.13_LGBT_FirstThought\" class=\"wp-image-52738 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a name=\"first-knew\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2013\/06\/13\/the-coming-out-experience-age-when-you-first-thought-knew-told\/st_13-06-13_lgbt_firstknew-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f8f4ed\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f8f4ed;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"621\" height=\"651\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/06\/ST_13.06.13_LGBT_FirstKnew.png?resize=480,503 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/06\/ST_13.06.13_LGBT_FirstKnew.png?resize=621,651 621w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/06\/ST_13.06.13_LGBT_FirstKnew.png?w=621\" alt=\"ST_13.06.13_LGBT_FirstKnew\" class=\"wp-image-52735 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a name=\"first-told\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2013\/06\/13\/the-coming-out-experience-age-when-you-first-thought-knew-told\/st_13-06-13_lgbt_firsttold-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f4f1ee\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f4f1ee;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"621\" height=\"691\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/06\/ST_13.06.13_LGBT_FirstTold.png?resize=480,534 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/06\/ST_13.06.13_LGBT_FirstTold.png?resize=621,691 621w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/06\/ST_13.06.13_LGBT_FirstTold.png?w=621\" alt=\"ST_13.06.13_LGBT_FirstTold\" class=\"wp-image-52744 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pew Research Center\u2019s survey of 1,197 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults asked respondents about three key points in their coming out journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[{"key":"6252b9cb-96a1-4b1a-8b7f-5f0781eb4eb7","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2013\/06\/13\/a-survey-of-lgbt-americans\/","label":"<strong>Report<\/strong> A Survey of LGBT Americans:  Attitudes, Experiences and Values in Changing Times","icon":"report"},{"key":"2d3dcab2-386b-481d-9412-021a62ebb780","type":"promo","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/06\/LGBT-series_200x200.png","label":"<strong>Series<\/strong> LGBT in Changing Times","icon":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2013\/06\/LGBT-series_200x200.png?w=75&h=75&crop=1","attachmentId":52750}],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[724],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[218,363],"tags":[],"bylines":[929],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[2812,2811,2813],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[519],"workflow-status":[],"collection":[],"class_list":["post-40532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lgbtq-attitudes-experiences","category-personal-life","bylines-mark-hugo-lopez","primary_audience-engaged-public","primary_audience-media","primary_audience-stakeholders","formats-report","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-social-trends"],"label":"Report","post_parent":0,"word_count":74,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2013\/06\/13\/the-coming-out-experience-age-when-you-first-thought-knew-told\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"prc_checklist":{"prc-image-alt-text":{"status":"complete","message":"All images have alt text.","data":null},"prc-about-this-research":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add an \"About this research\" details block.","data":null},"prc-paragraph-count":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add at least 2 paragraphs (currently 1).","data":{"count":1}},"prc-internal-link":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 4 internal links.","data":{"count":4}}},"watchers":[{"id":724,"name":"msolorzano","email":"msolorzano-temp@pewresearch.org","slack_user_id":"","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f86893a13d28433dcc6c4512a48b171b84ea93b30b59a30560a70570b12b1dec?s=48&d=mm&r=g"}],"table_of_contents":[],"report_materials":[{"key":"6252b9cb-96a1-4b1a-8b7f-5f0781eb4eb7","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2013\/06\/13\/a-survey-of-lgbt-americans\/","label":"<strong>Report<\/strong> A Survey of LGBT Americans:  Attitudes, Experiences and Values in Changing Times","icon":"report","attachmentId":""},{"key":"2d3dcab2-386b-481d-9412-021a62ebb780","type":"promo","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/06\/LGBT-series_200x200.png","label":"<strong>Series<\/strong> LGBT in Changing Times","icon":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2013\/06\/LGBT-series_200x200.png?w=75&h=75&crop=1","attachmentId":52750}],"report_pagination":{"current_post":null,"next_post":null,"previous_post":null,"pagination_items":[]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Personal Milestones in the Coming Out Experience","parent_id":40532},"materialsOrdered":[{"key":"6252b9cb-96a1-4b1a-8b7f-5f0781eb4eb7","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2013\/06\/13\/a-survey-of-lgbt-americans\/","label":"Report A Survey of LGBT Americans: Attitudes, Experiences and Values in Changing Times","attachmentId":0,"icon":"report"},{"key":"2d3dcab2-386b-481d-9412-021a62ebb780","type":"promo","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/06\/LGBT-series_200x200.png","label":"Series LGBT in Changing Times","attachmentId":52750,"icon":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2013\/06\/LGBT-series_200x200.png?w=75&h=75&crop=1"}],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Personal Milestones in the Coming Out Experience","description":"The Pew Research Center\u2019s survey of 1,197 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults asked respondents about three key points in their coming out journey.","og_title":"Personal Milestones in the Coming Out Experience","og_description":"The Pew Research Center\u2019s survey of 1,197 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults asked respondents about three key points in their coming out journey.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":[],"custom_schema":[],"og_image":0,"indexnow_submitted_at":1783602865,"gsc_index_status":{"verdict":"PASS","coverage_state":"Submitted and indexed","robotstxt_state":"ALLOWED","indexing_state":"INDEXING_ALLOWED","last_crawl_time":"2026-07-03T09:44:25Z","page_fetch_state":"SUCCESSFUL","crawled_as":"MOBILE","mobile_verdict":"VERDICT_UNSPECIFIED","mobile_issues":[],"rich_results_verdict":"PASS","rich_results_issues":[],"inspection_link":"https:\/\/search.google.com\/search-console\/inspect?resource_id=sc-domain:pewresearch.org&id=W6TljF6myKQ8A3lfWEwA5w&utm_medium=link&utm_source=api","fetched_at":1783602871}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[{"key":"0e4847a7-84f7-465e-bce1-ae4d59fcdb27","termId":929}],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40532"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":330823,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40532\/revisions\/330823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"level_of_effort","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/level_of_effort?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"primary_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primary_audience?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"information_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/information_type?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=40532"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=40532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}