'Figure out who you are,' coming out stories from northeastern Ontario

Turner Gentry says when he came out it wasn't ideal, but his family eventually got through it.

"I said to my mom that I had a date that weekend and she said, 'What's her name?'" said the former radio host from Timmins, Ont.

"And I said, 'Anthony, I like guys.'"

Gentry said his father was a conservative truck driver, so it took a bit of time for his family to come to terms with his sexual orientation.

"It was a little rough, but we all got through it," he said. "One way or another."

It was National Coming Out Day earlier this month, and Gentry recommends young people just be themselves, and that will help if they ever choose to come out.

"Figure out who you are, which is difficult," he said.

"I didn't even really know who I was when I came out of the closet in Grade 10 or Grade 11."

For Avery Eliiza Kallioinen, of Espanola, Ont., it was important to surround herself with like-minded people to better understand herself before she was ready to come out.

"I had a lot of misconception as to what it meant to be bisexual and if it had to meet certain criteria and if I had to have done certain things," she said.

"And I think a lot of the peoplein my young adult life helped kind of clarify that for me."

While Kallioinen joined her high school's gay-straight alliance, she said it wasn't until her second year of university that she made more friends in the queer community, and was ready to come out.

"My advice is, number one, to take your time to do everything at your own pace," she said.

Valerie Noble, also from Espanola, said her coming out story was difficult.

"I trusted somebody who I thought was my friend and they outed me to everybody," Noble said.

"I was afraid it didn't turn out very good. I was bullied and made fun of for a long time."

Noble said it took her a long time to know herself and meet people with whom she could be open and honest.

"Fast forward to now, I've been doing that healing and I've met amazing people," she said.