Everyone's "coming out" story is different. For some, it's a non-event, while for others it can be completely life-altering.
For openly gay actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, best known for his role on Modern Family, coming out was a "traumatising" ordeal, but he's opening up about the experience in hope of showing young LGBTIQ+ people that "it gets better".
As a 12-year-old high school student in Albuquerque, Ferguson was caught by a security guard trying to steal gay adult material from a local bookshop.
“My mom and dad saw the nature of the material I was stealing, and that’s how I came out,” he says in an interview with People.
He continues: “I find it funny now, but at the time it was incredibly traumatising. Ironically, my father still had a hard time catching up. I snuck some straight porn in there too, so that threw him off just enough.”
“I’m now married, and my father, who had such a hard time accepting my sexuality, danced at my wedding very happily,” he adds.
