Coming Out Story / Live-Action TV

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• On one episode of Two and a Half Men, Alan starts hanging out with a gay man, leading his (surprisingly supportive) family and friends to believe that he's gay. It culminates in his confessing that he's straight to the other man and worrying that he'd "be letting everyone down."
• Used straight in the Argentine series Graduados. Several former classmates who are now in their forties have a reunion meeting, to see the others once more. Guillermo Almada invites everyone to reveal a hidden secret: when it was his turn, he revealed that he is gay, and has already been gay in their high schools days. Most of them understood and supported him. Vicky had her heart broken: she had a crush on him, she still had it, and now it's pointless. Pablo, the former school bully, reacts in a completely homophobic way, and insults Guillermo about this at each chance he gets since then.
• Appears as a major plot point in a Dalziel and Pascoe episode, Child's Play.
• Used both straight (so to speak) and parodied on Will & Grace. One two-parter episode had the story of Will's coming out. Another one had Jack and Will refer to a gay bookstore as a collection of numerous coming out tales, all more or less the same.
• Used as a storyline in Degrassi: The Next Generation multiple times, with a few notable examples being Marco, Riley, and Zoe.
  • (Perhaps because) he's transgender, not gay, Adam came out to his family and began living as male some time before transferring to Degrassi.
  • In Degrassi Junior High, Snake's older brother Glen comes out to him and their parents on a visit home from medical school. Snake's dealing with that took up most of the episode, but he took it better than the elder Simpsons, who kicked Glen out of the house.
• Most of David's story arcs in the first two series of Six Feet Under involve him coming out to various members of his family.
• Done in one episode for Max from Happy Endings, who is out to everyone except his parents because, in his words, "Coming out [to your parents] is gay". When his parents visit town, however, his friends' attempts to act as his beards convince them that Max is dating a married woman, his best friend's ex and a Nazi, so he comes out reluctantly and after two minutes of surprise they're totally fine with it.
• South of Nowhere is pretty much Coming-Out Story: The Series. The first season is all about Spencer developing and learning to accept her feelings for Ashley, and end with them getting together. The second season is all about coming out to her family and friends and dealing with other peoples reaction and homophobia and ends with her and Ashley going to the Prom together. The third season is all about Spencer being out and Proud, calling out her mother's homophobia, going to Pride, getting LGBT-friends and so on. She never has any big "I am Gay"-scene, since pretty much everyone she knows figures it out on their own or by walking in on her and Ashley in compromising situations. The closest thing she has is when she was given the chance to deny it and chose not to.
  Chelsea: I think it is really great that you are planning this party for Ashley.
  Spencer: Yeah well, she is my best friend.
  Chelsea: [coyly] Isn't she more than just a friend?
  Spencer: Uh... yeah... [starts to grin like a loon]... YES!
• Happens in several episodes of Brothers & Sisters, including the pilot.
  • Kevin, who is in his thirties, and his Uncle Saul. Saul had a particularly hard time with it, since he was an older man, though the family was very supportive of them both.
• The most infamous example has to be from Ellen, where it was a case of Real Life Writes the Plot. In case you've been living under a rock, Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian, and then shortly afterwards her character Ellen Morgan did as well.
• Inverted in Friends, where Phoebe's gay husband Duncan (they had a Citizenship Marriage) realizes he is actually straight and comes "out" to her.
  Phoebe: I... I don't know what to say. I mean, you know, you're married to someone for six years, and you think you know him, and then one day says, "Oh, I'm not gay." […] Do your parents know?
  Duncan: No, but it'll be OK, they're pretty cool, my brother's straight so…
• Also inverted in Less Than Perfect, where Owen has to tell his two lesbian moms that he's straight.
• Inverted as well in an old Saturday Night Live sketch:
  Son: Dad... I'm... I'm straight.
  Father: What?!
  Son: I said I'm straight, Dad. I like girls.
  Father: You! You and girls!
  Son: Now look, Dad, you might as well hear the whole story right now! I happen to have a, uh, a girlfriend.
  Father: Stop it! I don't wanna hear about it! Where did I go wrong? I mean, I tried to give you a nice home. I sent you to YMCA summer camp. I should have played with you more when you were a baby! I never, never should have let your mother bathe you!
  Son: Mother has nothing to do with this!
  Father: Oh, come on!
  Son: Now look, Dad, it's no one's fault! It just happened! I... am... a heterosexual. And I am not ashamed of it.
  Father: [crying]
• Mr. Show:
  • Parodied by a sketch wherein David Cross comes out as bald.
  • Also parodied in a sketch where a boy's parents have been telling the whole town that their (straight) son is gay. When the son finds out about it, the mom says, "This isn't how we wanted you to find out," and the dad says, "I feel like a great weight has been lifted!" When he insists he isn't gay, the dad starts yelling. "No gay son of mine is a not-gay!"
• Parodied in a different manner with another sketch by Chilean show El Club de la Comedia: One of a gay couple comes out as straight, nervous and tearful that his husband won't accept it... and then it turns out the husband's not gay either. They decide to forget the last few married years and just go to a disco and pick up a few girls.
• Ugly Betty:
  • Marc comes out to his mother. The standard setup is subverted somewhat in that his colleagues already know he's gay and don't care, but his mother absolutely rejects him after he comes out (which Marc suspected would happen). No happy ending for him, at least not now.
  • When Justin finally came out in the second to last episode, his family went in the extreme opposite direction, being supportive to the point of being embarrassing.
• Noah's Arc: Not a full story, but in the movie we get to see Wade and Brandon's (also see Gayngst) coming out.
• The standard American Soap Opera approach is to phase the gay character out shortly after the Coming-Out Story has played out - particularly if the character in question is male.
  • All My Children famously did it with Bianca, a legacy character, daughter of Erica Kane (the soap's most important character) when Bianca was sixteen. They stuck by it and gave Bianca a few girlfriends and even a wife; too bad it took years to let her actually be affectionate with any of her love interest.
  • As the World Turns has recently proven to be a notable exception, not only running through the trope twice - first with a main character, then with his prospective love interest - but continuing to integrate the characters into the usual roundelay of kidnappings, murders, convenient comas, etc. Averted with Reid, who was out and comfortable about his sexuality, which didn't define his character. The reason why most people didn't know he was gay was because no one bothered to ask, though much of the audience suspected he was.
  • General Hospital did it with Lucas Jones, after trying to pair him up with not one but both of his female, adoptive first cousins. Sadly, Lucas has not been seen since his (adoptive) father was killed by the writers died during Sweeps Week.
    • Lucas finally returned in 2014, eight years after his last appearance. His first major storyline upon his return was meeting his newly discovered biological father and coming out to him.
  • British or international soaps seem to handle it with a bit more truth. Syed's Coming-Out Story on EastEnders is quite painful.
    • Talking about painful. Tough guy Phil Mitchell just wanted his son Ben to be like him while Ben just wants his father's approval. Unfortunately, Ben is everything Phil isn't and Phil long suspected his son was gay. When Ben finally reveals he's gay, Phil puts his arms on Ben's shoulders, leaving the viewer unsure of whether he's going to hug or strangle him, before he breaks down in tears and runs off.
  • The famous HollyOaks John Paul and Craig story involved both of them coming out, John Paul months before Craig, although Craig's was more dramatic than John Paul's. John Paul was created as a gay character, but Craig had been on the show a lot longer and was originally straight. They managed to avoid it being a mess by making it less of a coming out as gay story and more a coming out as in love with John Paul story.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
  • Done in a Does This Remind You of Anything? fashion in the second season when Buffy's mother Joyce finds out about her being a slayer. She even asks "Have you tried not being a Slayer?" and "It's because you didn't have a strong father figure, isn't it?". In Season Three, Joyce continued this metaphor describing herself as "marching in the Slayer Pride Parade."
  • Subverted with Willow in Season 4. She gets the support of her friends (particularly Buffy), but there isn't a homophobic reaction in sight—there is some shock at first among her friends, but they overcome it quickly. The only person who has any kind of negative reaction is Willow's ex-boyfriend, Oz, who was interested in getting back together with her (and whose return prompted Willow to come out to Buffy). He doesn't say a word about the fact that she's fallen in love with a girl; he's upset that he's lost his chance. More importantly, Willow coming out is the secondary plotline of the episode.
  • Averted with Larry, who privately comes out to Xander, and later makes mention in later episodes that he had the school paper print a coming-out notice for him and that he's "so out I have my grandmother setting up dates".
  • Interestingly the heterosexual relationship between Buffy and vampire Spike does follow this trope, with Tara as the supportive friend (she even uses the term "coming out") and Xander as the hostile one. In "Normal Again" Spike tells Buffy she should tell the others about them so they'll either support her, or drive her out so Spuffy can be together on the Dark Side. Contrary to Spike's hopes and Buffy's fears, when their relationship does come out into the open her friends, once they've overcome their initial shock, are non-judgemental about it, even Xander and Parental Substitute Giles.
• Strangers with Candy:
  • One episode gave Chuck Noblet his Coming-Out Story when lover Geoffrey was hit by a car, and doctors told Chuck he needed 'a ray of hope'. Chuck decides to come out to show Geoffrey that their relationship has a future. Unfortunately, this is Strangers with Candy, so halfway through explaining their 'friendship', the doctors reveal that Geoffrey has completely recovered. Chuck is immensely relieved, stays in the closet and no-one else had any idea what he was trying to say anyway. Geoffrey later has a horrible relapse, although he's fine by the next episode.
  • In the last episode, it's established that none of his students are paying attention because it's the last day of school, and he and Jellineck take the opportunity to tell them about the "HOT, ASS-THUMPING SEX" they enjoy on a regular basis. Sure enough, no reaction.
• Justin, The Twink of the American version of Queer as Folk, deals with coming out to his parents. Supportive parent? Check. Homophobic parent? Check. Hate crime? Check. Three for three.
• Several of the women on The L Word deal with coming out. In the case of the original characters it was either dealt with as the show progressed, or related in flashback (they even had a "coming out story" storytelling episode). Also happened for several characters who were additions to the cast and started out as straight or closeted.
• Both spoofed and subverted in The Catherine Tate Show. One series of skits featuring a man named John coming out to his family. This is set up to be a stereotypical encounter, since he lives in a seemingly lower-class neighborhood. However, his family is outright delighted to have a gay man in the family, hilariously over-supporting him and parading him around town to everyone they meet. And everyone he encounters treat his sexuality as a godsend (even street punks), giving him gifts, asking for advice, and generally making a much bigger deal out of it than poor John intended.
  • "I'm with the woofter" could pretty much be its own trope.
  • Made all the more hilarious by the fact it's set in lower-class Belfast. It is... generally ... unusual for people from Belfast to be portrayed as anything other than stubborn terrorists. Which is part of the joke. The family are portrayed as stubborn terrorists (giving each other balaclavas and knuckle-dusters for Christmas), just really open-minded and supportive stubborn terrorists.
• Trailer Park Boys made use of this trope in a memorable fourth-season episode. In the first season, Randy and Mr. Lahey obtained a compromising video of Ricky acting in one of J-Roc's porn films, which could ruin his relationship with Lucy. When Julian tries breaking into Lahey's trailer to steal the video, he comes across Randy and Lahey in a compromising "position" of their own, and agrees to keep quiet about their relationship in exchange for the tape. A few years later, their relationship comes out when Ricky's car goes out of control and crashes into Randy and Lahey's trailer. Lahey emerges dressed as the Lone Ranger, and when Julian rescues Randy from the wreckage, he finds that Randy is wearing a bumblebee costume. Everyone except Julian is confused about this, when Randy finally says that he and Mr. Lahey shouldn't be ashamed of who they are, and loudly announces to the trailer park that he and Lahey are gay. In later episodes, Randy and Lahey have no problem with displaying their relationship in public, and none of the other trailer park residents really bother them about it.
• Hilariously subverted in an episode of That '70s Show when Red befriends his football-crazy neighbors. Red comes to accept the neighbors' gay relationship, but his budding friendship turns into passionate hatred when he finds out the two men are Minnesota Vikings fans. As a diehard Green Bay Packers fan, Red is outraged and screams at the "freaks" to get out of his house.
• The Gossip Girl episode "All About My Brother" is Serena's brother Eric's. This being Gossip Girl, his outing wasn't complete without Gossip Girl-fueled rumors and scandal, mostly having to do with his closeted love interest, who was using Jenny as a beard.
• Played with in an episode of the British-Indian sketch show Goodness Gracious Me - after his parents steadfastly ignore his increasingly blatant hints about how stereotypically gay he is, the son blurts out that he and his "friend" Simon are in love; "Simon?" tuts his mother, "you couldn't find a nice Indian boy?"
• Sanjay's hilarious coming out story on Weeds occurs midway through a hostage situation, in which both the man holding him hostage (U-Turn) and a fellow hostage (Conrad) become totally preoccupied with whether he's actually gay or just thinks he is. U-Turn waves a gun in his face and insists what he needs is Jesus, before ordering Sanjay to have sex with one of his (U-Turn's) hookers to make sure. The hooker opines that he is in fact gay. Lampshaded by the fact that he was (literally) hiding in a closet and his kidnapper yelled "Come out of the closet"!
• Glee:
  • Kurt comes out to Mercedes early on, who had no idea. Well... she knew, but then the cheerleaders convinced her he wasn't. He later comes out to his dad, but it turns out he knew all along: "I've known since you were three. All you wanted for your birthday was a pair of sensible heels."
  • In Season 2, Santana comes out to herself as a lesbian, but hasn't officially told anyone but Holly and Brittany, though several other people probably know. Karofsky has yet to be out to anyone but Kurt. By season 3, both have been unwillingly outed, and both suffer consequences as a result.
• The Big Gay Sketch Show had a parody of "The more you know" public service announcements called "when I knew."
• Skins has Emily, who after being quiet about it for some time comes out epically to JJ with: "I want to have sex with girls." The group is all fine with it - unfortunately for Emily, though, her mum and twin sister aren't so supportive.
  • In Katie's defense, it appears that it is not so much about Emily dating a woman as it is about her dating anyone, and thus separating herself from her. Check out their big reconciliation here (starts 4 minutes in). Their mother, on the other hand, is just an ass.
  Emily: It's hard telling people about yourself isn't it? But I am going to try. It's no big deal. You probably couldn't care less.
  J.J: About what?
  Emily: ... I want to have sex with girls.
  J.J: ...Right.
  Emily: [years of secrets pours out of her] Yeah, I like girls. I like sex with girls. I like their rosy lips, their hard nipples, bums, soft tights. I like tits and fannys, you know... There... I said it, and now...
  [J.J passes out]
  Emily: Oh fucking hell...
  ...
  Mom: What have you been doing?
  Emily: Nothing.
  Mom: Well, it looks like you have been fighting.
  Emily: Well, I haven't... look, leave me alone.
  Mom: Is it a boy that upset you?
  Katie: [Who has just realized Emily's deal]: Mum, I don't think she wants to talk about it.
  Mom: I do. 'cause if it's been a boy that's been... You looks like you've been roughed up; so just tell me.
  Emily: ...It wasn't a boy.
  Katie: There, see, so...
  Emily: It was a girl.
  Dad: You've been fighting with a girl? That's not very ladylike.
  Emily: No Dad. I've been making love to a girl. Okay? Everybody satisfied?
  [stunned silence]
  Katie: She is such a liar. Don't listen to her...
  Emily: Her name is Naomi. She's rather beautiful. So I was nailing her.
  Dad: [Long pause, then he starts grinning] Okay, I got it.. Nice one. Had me going there. I've got to mind my own business. Funny. You've got to give it to her! Convincing!
  Emily: Dad, I am trying to tell you...
  Katie: Shut up!
  [Emily flees the table.]
  James: [nonchalant] Gordon Macpherson says you call them dykes because you have to stick your finger in them.

  • Fridge Brilliance: Rob was trying to prevent Jenna from flipping out on Emily.
  • Subverted in Generation 3 with Franky, who is comfortable with her pansexuality from the onset. So far Mini hasn't spoken much of her lesbian leanings, but she appears to be in a kind of Transparent Closet.
• Played surprisingly, um, straight in the otherwise crass Fox sitcom The War at Home, when former (unconfirmed) Camp Gay / Pet Homosexual Dave ends up coming out to his best friend's Jerk with a Heart of Gold father, who has been joking about him being gay behind his back:
  Kenny: So, how do you know if you're gay? You know, hypothetically speaking, how do you know?
  Dave: I dunno, man, it's kinda like an instinct thing. Y'know, it's like ice cream. You either like chocolate or you like vanilla. Which flavor do you like?
  Kenny: (offhandedly) I don't know, which one's the gay flavor? (beat, then covers his mouth in shock)
  Dave: So what are you sayin' here, Kenny?
  Kenny: I guess I'm saying I'm...I'm gay.
  • He then comes out to his strict Middle Eastern parents, who kick him out of the house, and he ends up living with the Golds for a while until his parents give in and take him back, once the Department of Child Disservices gets involved (lampshaded slightly by Kenny 'compromising' with his father by agreeing to live in awkwardness for a while until they can get past it). Whew. Original show, that.
• Hilariously parodied in Little Britain when Daffyd, the "only gay in the village", comes out to his parent, wanting them to shun him. They basically shrug their shoulders and start talking about setting him up with his father's coworker.
• Done in three storylines on Neighbours:
  • Lana Crawford, a new student at Erinsborough High who made friends with Sky after a poor first impression. When Lana kissed Sky during a sleepover, Sky figured it out and gradually convinced her to come out (to herself as much as to Sky). Not long after she was publicly outed by Sky's cousin and it took a while for her to decide to stop denying the rumors.
  • Donna Freedman had quite a subtle one when she came out as bisexual to her friend Bridget. They were discussing their 'first time' and Donna asked her friend if hers was with a guy or a girl
  • A more recent example was Chris Pappas, who unlike Lana, eventually became a regular cast member. Chris was dating Summer at the time, but began to realize he was gay when he developed feelings for their friend Andrew. When their teacher Michael, as a class assignment, asked everyone to write down a secret or record a secret, Chris recorded it on his iPod. It was later confiscated and Chris mistakenly believed Michael had heard the recording. Michael figured it out from his reaction, and he later researched the subject on his home computer. Natasha found the sites in his internet history and figured out that one of her classmates had come out to him. She quickly started the rumor mill going. Nevertheless, Chris came out to Summer and Andrew and all were able to overcome the awkwardness between them.
• Michael gets one in a later season of My Family. Ben is shellshocked, but eventually comes to accept it. Susan has a harder time dealing with it, but mostly only because Michael chose to came out to Ben and not to her.
• Pretty Little Liars:
  • Emily is Forced Out of the Closet by her nemesis.
    Emily: Why did you think I would take Maya to the dance?
    Hanna: What?
    Emily: You thought I wanted her as my date. Why?
    Hanna: “A” sent me a picture of you and Maya kissing. So, can I just ask — You took Toby to the dance, but then you took that picture with Maya?
    Emily: [Pregnant pause] ... I think I know what I want. ... But if I say yes to Maya, everything would change. You know it would.
    Hanna: Yeah, it would. You wouldn’t have to pretend you’re someone you’re not.
    Emily: But what if I’m wrong? What if I’m not … that person?
    Hanna: Emily, you’re not signing a contract. You were Emily dating Ben and now you’re Emily dating Maya. We love Emily. No one cares who you’re with.
    Emily: Really? Have you even met my parents? Mr. and Mrs. Military and their perfect daughter...
  • There was also Paige, a member of Emily's swim team and later girlfriend. When we first meet her in season one she's pretty much locked herself into the closet due to her father's rather negative views on homosexuality and when she starts dating Emily (by this time out of the closet and secure in her sexuality) she always wants their dates to be out of the way so that no one who knows her will see them together. Despite Emily's encouragement to come out, even going so far as to set her up with a support group, Paige backs out and they break up. Then when we meet Paige again in season 2 she reveals that she came out to her parents (apparently screaming and crying was involved) and she seems quite a bit happier.
• This is the premise of the Pilot episode of My Name Is Earl. The first misdeed Earl makes up for is bullying a classmate named Kenny James. It seems as though Kenny leads a perfect life, but Earl notices that Kenny is lonely and decides to help him find a girlfriend. When that doesn't work, they resort to Patty the Daytime Hooker, and when that fails, Earl and Randy question Kenny...and Randy finds Kenny's Porn Stash. Earl then takes Kenny to a gay bar.
• Greek:
  • Calvin Owens is accidentally outed to his Omega Chi brothers by Ashleigh. After an episode of dirty looks from most of them (his big brother Evan is supportive), he de-pledges. It takes a few episodes (and Evan kicking out the more homophobic elements in Omega Chi) and a courtship with Kappa Tau for Calvin to re-pledge.
  • It's also parodied with Calvin's on-again, off-again boyfriend Heath, who comes out to his brothers at Kappa Tau. They don't care; in fact, they were more worried he found out that Beaver had hit on his underage sister ("She does not look 16".)
• In Tyler Perry's The Haves and Have Nots, Jeffrey Harrington is said to have been closeted during most of the first season. When he finally came out to his parents, his father David accepted it. His mother Veronica, on the other hand, was very disapproving to the point that she rather have the survival of her sons that were aborted than have a gay son. Things go From Bad to Worse from there when she tries to make him straight.
• Koisenu Futari centers around Sakuko figuring out she's asexual aromantic and figuring out how to live in a romance-centered world.
• The first season of Transparent centers on Maura coming out to her family as a transwoman.
• The story arc of Faking It is Amy's coming to terms with her own sexuality. She realizes that she has feelings for her best friend Karma (who does not reciprocate at first) while they are both faking being lesbians for popularity.
• When I'm Sixty-Four deals with two men coming to terms with their sexuality and falling in love in their mid-sixties.
• On Shadowhunters, Alec struggles with this throughout all of season 1, culminating in him finally admitting his feelings for Magnus in "Malec", kissing him in front of everyone.
• Frank's entire story arc on the French Canadian teen drama Le Chalet is realizing he is gay and coming out to his friends. That and getting his abysmal grades up. His friend's reaction range from 'already knew it' or supportive to jerk ass (although that was somewhat more due to the particular character's 'everything's about me' attitude).
• Mickey Milkovich in Shameless (US) comes out in a spectacular speech towards the end of season 4 in front of his violent and homophobic father or risk losing his long-term boyfriend, Ian. His father reacts as expected, through lots of violence.
• Supergirl (2015): The show has three LGBT+ main characters, all of whom have this occur.
  • First is Alex Danvers, main character Supergirl/Kara Danvers' adopted sister, who realizes she's lesbian.
    • In the episode "Changing", Alex comes out to Kara. It's made a little difficult as Alex hasn't really accepted her sexuality herself at this point, but Kara, although taken by surprise, is fully supportive.
    • In the episode "Medusa", Alex prepares to come out to their mother on Thanksgiving, and it's largely Played for Laughs. Firstly, Alex and James argue as he wants to reveal to the group that he's National City's newest hero, the Guardian, and Alex doesn't want him overshadowing her announcement. Later, when Alex is about to come out to her mother, a small hole in the space-time continuum appears over the dinner table. Finally, Alex gets the opportunity... only for her mother to have already worked it out, and she's happy for her daughter.
  • Nia comes out a couple of times to her new acquaintances/friends in Season 4 (she was already out to her family, and they accepted her).
    • In "Fallout" Nia tells James she is transgender, while explaining why she'd stood up for Brainy since it had reminded her of transphobia. James is cool about it.
    • In "Blood Memory" she tells Kara, and also relates her transition in the past. Her family was very accepting, though not everybody in her town was okay about it. Kara thanks Nia for sharing her story, and is wholly accepting of her identity too.
    • In "American Dreamer" she comes out again while giving an interview to Kara, this time as Dreamer, to the entire world.
  • In "Will The Real Miss Tessmacher Please Stand Up", Kelly reveals to Alex she is lesbian like her. While in the military, she got secretly engaged to her sergeant (because of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" they couldn't be out), who then died on patrol.
• Mac in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia comes out thrice in the series.
  • The first time is in The Gang Goes to Hell where he tries to save two gay men on a Christian cruise ship from burning in Hell for being gay, only for them to finally coax him to come out as gay. However at the end of the following episode he goes back in the closet.
  • His second time coming out is in Hero or Hate Crime where, after a series of events, he can only claim all the money of a lottery ticket if he claims to be gay for reparations of a hate crime committed by Frank. This time he decides to stay out.
  • The third time is in "Mac Finds His Pride", where he tries to tell his father that he's gay via an interpretive dance sequence. Despite himself being bisexual Luther ultimately rejects Mac but is able to finally make peace with himself and God (as well as earn Frank's respect).
• Dear White People: Lionel, unlike the character in the film, is still questioning his sexuality at the beginning of the series. He grows increasingly sure he's gay before finally coming out to his roommate Troy (who he finds attractive, though the latter is very straight, and he doesn't tell him this). Troy accepts it easily.
• Runaways (2017): Karolina Dean's plot is about struggling to deal with the fact that she's a lesbian in the midst of discovering that her religion is a sham, her mother and most of the other adults in her life are murderers, and that she has superpowers. She spends a few episodes trying to be attracted to her friend Chase, but eventually accepts that she's far more attracted to her friend Nico. She kisses Nico in episode 9, and Nico kisses her back. Nico's bisexuality is not commented on, so it's unclear if she was already aware of it before Karolina kissed her.
• Much of the first season of Everything Sucks! deals with Kate's coming out story.
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Significant portions of the 99th and 100th episodes concern Rosa coming out as bi to Charles, then the rest of her co-workers (they all take it well), and then her parents (who do not).
• Happens twice in season 4 of Fresh Off the Boat for the Huang’s neighbor Nicole.
  • First she comes out as a lesbian to main character Eddie (who initially thought she was going to try to rekindle his crush on her), who is silent at first but is supportive and asks genuine questions about how she feels.
  • Another episode has it as the B-plot of coming out to her parents. She accidentally runs into her stepmother Honey and Jessica Huang at a lesbian bar and decides to come out. Honey is supportive (as are the other bar patrons prepared to either celebrate or comfort Nicole depending on the outcome); Jessica however is confused because it never occurred to her women can also be gay.
• This is the basis of the reality show Coming Out Stories. It's about various people coming out as gay to their peers and family.
• Schitt's Creek subverts the trope in a couple of ways:
  • David is out to his family and pre-Schitt's Creek friends as pansexual when the series begins, but he comes out to Stevie as pan after they sleep together because she has presumed he was gay.
  • Patrick has a more traditional coming out journey. He's not even out to himself until he meets David, but Patrick is open and comfortable with being gay after falling in love with David, and he and David are accepted in the town. However, in Season 5 David invites Patrick's parents to a Surprise Party only to discover Patrick isn't out to them. They are portrayed as shocked, processing and somewhat hurt that Patrick didn't tell them, but they are loving and supportive. The story plays out very nuanced, with David offering to be only Patrick's business partner at the party, but Patrick rejecting the idea. Patrick, meanwhile, is fairly confident his parents will accept him but still fears they will treat him differently. The episode adheres to writer/actor Dan Levy's desire to have the show and town be free from homophobia, so it instead focuses on Patrick's more subtle anxieties and fears about his relationship with his parents changing and gives actor Noah Reid, who plays Patrick, a chance to shine as a dramatic actor.
• Proven Innocent: Madeline comes out to her mother as bisexual at the end of "The Struggle for Stonewall". Her mom is fine with it and wants to meet Madeline's girlfriend. She's thrown by Madeline saying that Wren is in prison though. Later, she's still pretty reluctant to tell her friends.
• Played for Laughs with Jeremy in the final season of Peep Show, who after eight seasons of Ambiguously Bi moments hooks up with a guy. As he tries coming out to Mark, the latter completely ignores Jeremy's attempts at seriousness since he already knows about the hookup and just wants him to confess that they did it on his bed. Jez then finds out that Mark and some of their friends saw the entire thing on a webcam that was placed in the room, meaning they all know the truth already.
• Almost Family: Edie's realization that she's a lesbian, coming to grips with it, and telling her husband is a continuing story arc in the series.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: The major plot of "The Outcast", unsurprisingly given its attempted gay aesop analogy. Soren, a member of the genderless J'naii species, identifies as being female and is attracted to males based on their gender. First she comes out to Riker, and says she's attracted by him. Then when it's publicly revealed she won't deny her identity even when faced with punishment by her government, and confirms this while in court. However, it ends in tragedy as she's subject to a "psychotectic treatment" that makes her renounce this.
• Batwoman (2019):
  • Kate comes out as a lesbian in her Batwoman persona (she'd already been out as herself), after hearing a sad story from the hacker in "How Queer Is Everything Today?" who'd been forcibly outed by her lover.
  • Sophie eventually admits to her mother she was involved with a woman at Point Rock (without naming Kate as the one), and she really never loved her husband, saying she wants to rekindle things with her former girlfriend. Her mother's unhappy and leaves, which makes Sophie cry.
• Years and Years: Subverted. Bethany's parents learn she's "trans". They naturally assume it means transgender, assuring her immediately they'll accept her as their son if that's what she identifies as. While this is heartwarming, it turns out that she meant transhuman, wanting to get cybernetic implants. They're far less happy about that, but make their peace with the idea.
• Dates: Erica admits she is lesbian to Kate after the pair have sex, and then stops pretending otherwise with her family (after her brother's accidentally learned).
• Trinkets:
  • Subverted. It's revealed Elodie is gay when she mentions a girl she liked to her friends, and the pair accept it casually without hesitation. Her family knows already. She never formally comes out.
  • Played straight though with Jillian, who's closeted initially but eventually comes out as gay to her parents.
• Never Have I Ever:
  • Fabiola realizes she's a lesbian, coming out to her friends, mom and then accidentally her entire class.
  • Jonah also comes out to his classmates after Fabiola does, but they already know due to him being very Camp Gay.
• Tim Bayliss comes to realize his bisexuality on a season 6 episode of Homicide: Life on the Street while working a case of a murdered gay man, a big change for him since an early case involving a homophobic hate crime against a man who was actually straight had caused him to make anti-gay comments to the more open-minded Pembleton, although this might be seen as suspicious in itself.
• Star Trek: Discovery: In "Sanctuary" Adira tells Paul that they are non-binary, preferring "they/them" pronouns. Paul accepts this immediately, and is seen calling Adira by these with Hugh later.
• Tipping the Velvet (2002): Nan realizes she's a lesbian on meeting Kitty, who becomes her lover, and she later tells her younger sister. However, her sister is negative about this and doesn't want to hear any more. At the end though she comes to visit her family again with her next lover Florence.
• Feel Good: A big part of the series involves George hiding that she's with an AFAB partner (identified as a woman initially), until she comes out later accidentally. Mae dislikes the fact that she hides it. Her loved ones are pretty casual about it, despite her initial anxiety. During the series, Mae also comes out as nonbinary.
• First Day:
  • Hannah comes out to Olivia first as a trans girl, who's accepting and keeps her secret. Later she also tells how she'd first done it to other kids (she's been forcibly outed in the present). She had told her mom and dad she's a girl from early on, but it took years for them to accept this. Afterward, one of the apparent girls she tells was inspired and he comes out to Hannah telling her he's a trans boy, but his mom never listens. After having heard this, Hannah vows to help him as best she can. In the second season it's shown Hannah's doing just that, and he's living now with his very accepting grandmother.
  • In season two, after Hannah starts a Pride group, a couple of the students who join are closeted, with the others telling them how they came out.
• The Republic of Sarah: AJ comes out to Grover after two people already realized she's a lesbian.
• Gossip Girl (2021): Aki realizes he's bisexual and tells Audrey, his girlfriend (he isn't quite sure of the label at first), then other people. They're all accepting.
• Twenties: In a subplot, Marie's fiance Chuck admits he's bisexual and they wrestle with it as a couple.
• October Faction: Phillip comes clean and tells Madison that he's gay, leading her to break up with him.
• The Sex Lives of College Girls: In "The Truth" Leighton finally admits to Kimberly that she's a lesbian, who's surprised but completely accepting and comforts her over how difficult it was.
• The Wilds: This is Shelby's character arc, admitting that she's attracted to women (specifically Toni) and embracing it rather than remaining in denial while opposing this. Everyone learns they're together and none of them care at all in Season 2.
• Impulse: Jenna at first is hinted at having attraction toward other girls, before it's confirmed when she kisses a girl, Kate, whom she meets at a party. She finally admits this to Henry, who is accepting and says it makes her cooler than before.
• The Bisexual: In an unusual example, Leila's out as a lesbian then realizes she's bisexual after becoming attracted to a man whom she then has sex with. Her lesbian friends and ex are very hostile to her over it at first.
• The Umbrella Academy: In the second episode of Season 3, Viktor comes out to his siblings, telling them his new name and that he's male due to now realizing he's a trans man. They all accept him at once.
• Avocado Toast: Much of the drama in the first season comes from Molly coming out to people about being bisexual (when she isn't outed before choosing to). Later her student Sarah also tells her she's bisexual, having been inspired by Molly's coming out.
• Reboot (2022): Played for laughs. Hannah spends the whole fourth episode worrying about coming out to her dad, and trying and failing to do so. Onset, Bree misses her cue and loudly yells "I'm coming out!", causing Hannah to yell "I'm a lesbian!", only for Gordon to tell her he'd known the whole time.
• Interview with the Vampire (2022): In "The Thing Lay Still", Louis de Pointe du Lac and Lestat de Lioncourt mutually agree to publicly out themselves from their Transparent Closet of 29 years ^note late 1910 - Feb. 6, 1940 by dancing together at the Mardi Gras ball in front of a bigoted crowd. They're both so hopelessly in love and spellbound by the other's beauty that they lock eyes as they waltz across the ballroom before locking their lips, which shocks and disgusts most of the guests. Louis is disappointed that his and Lestat's illegal activity at the venue wasn't reported in the news.
  Louis: So much would be written about that grim night in New Orleans, but not a single mention of our last hour at Latrobe's, as if the only crime unfit to print took place on that dance floor.
• The Sex Lives of College Girls: A subplot is Leighton coming out to first Kimberly then Bela and Whitney as gay, after having been resolutely closeted, with her girlfriend Alicia dumping her as she hadn't wanted to keep their relationship a secret.
• You Me Her: Jack and Emma come out as polyamorous to their friends (in Emma's case, also bisexual), introducing their girlfriend Izzy to them. Emma also does the same with her parents later. While they're resistant at first, everyone accepts this.
• My Dead Ex: Bethany is a closeted lesbian at first, and afraid to come out. Wren, her love interest, and Wren's bestie Charley, both encourage her to. Bethany at last comes out in the finale.
• Dracula (2013): Lucy tells Mina she loves her after Lady Jayne encourages her to, and later also her mother. Both of them are dismayed and pretty shocked by hearing this.
• Queen Sugar: Micah's arc in season 6 involves realizing that he has feelings for his male friend, Isaiah. He eventually confides in his aunt Nova, who's greatly supportive due to the fact that she's queer as well.
• Deputy: Bishop, though out as a lesbian (mentioning this in the pilot to Hollister) tells Paula later they're "not all woman" after having had a long period of discomfort on the topic, coming out as nonbinary this way too. When they told their girlfriend though, Genevieve was unhappy about this revelation, with the two breaking up eventually as a result of it. Bishop later also starts to use they/them pronouns. All of their colleagues and work friends accept this easily however, assuring Bishop they're supported. Hollister even sends a memo out helpfully updating people on their new pronouns. Bishop is quite pleased by this.
• One of Us is Lying:
  • Cooper comes out to his newfound friends Addy, Bronwyn and Nate as gay in "One of Us Is Famous", an Internal Reveal with the audience already knowing this. He had been firmly closeted before. After this he comes out to his dad as well. Some of this was also spurred by being forcibly outed though.
  • Janae tells Addy she's genderfluid in Season 2, and then her girlfriend Maeve too.
• Trigonometry:
  • Ray tries to tell her mom that she's seeing both Kieran and Gemma, though she never does quite do it. Her mom realized it anyway however.
  • Gemma later tells all her family and friends (except her dad) as well. She previously had come out to them as bisexual too.
• Fellow Travelers: After suffering from Gayngst for most of his life, Timothy Laughlin finally accepts his true self and embraces his homosexuality in The '70s after he earns a counseling degree. He even comes out to his conservative Catholic relatives, which is a big deal for him because in the past, he was afraid of becoming the next "designated hopeless sinner of the family."
  Tim: Got my counseling degree and decided to live a completely honest life.
  Hawk: Completely?
  Tim: Out of the closet. Even to my family.
  Hawk: Did they call in an exorcist?
  (both chuckle)
  Tim: I'm sure my mother prays every day for my eternal soul. But I'm happy. More or less.

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