Coming out must be one of the hardest thing that a young person has to do during the course of their life. Despite it being 2017, and the world being a supposedly more liberal place than it was previously, there still remains a stigma about homosexuality and some people still have trouble accepting and understanding the LGBTQ+ community. Going to college is also one of the more strenuous times of a young person's life; having to deal with living independently, handling your own money and going through all the travails that consume that time of your life is enough for most young people to deal with. However, this time is only made harder when you are in the closet, as these people can testify to:

1. Everything is against this person

2. Nothing like family support

3. Take the leap

4. It can be very a very confusing time

5. Things will always get better

6. If they love you, it shouldn't be an issue

7. Believe in yourself!

8. You can do it, be brave

9. F**k their traditions, be you

10. It's always best to be open

11. Why should your sexuality affect your education?

12. Keep your head up

13. Your status gives you the chance to be a role model

14. Why not try and talk to her about things?

15. Religion can do more harm than good

16. It's a chance for a fresh start

17. Don't do everything your mom says

18. That sucks, but there's plenty more fish in the sea

19. These are all things to look forward to

20. Again, why should your sexuality block you from achieving your dreams?

I'm sure you will all agree, these people have got a serious dilemma on their hands. For many , they have some very difficult obstacles in their path which are blocking them from coming out of the closet. However, as a general rule, it's always better to be out in the open than to keep things inside. Things never work out as badly as you'd expect and coming to terms with who you are, and being comfortable with it, is one of the best things that you can do.

What would the festive period be without a blazing family row? Christmas isn't Christmas until someone upsets a member of the family is some form or another. Whether it's an insult about the turkey, or a major political debate between your conservative uncle and hippy aunt, the festive period tends to bring out the best and the worst in us. Maybe it's the fact that we're all fueled up on a mixture of beer, wine, spirits and liquor. Or, maybe it's that we received pajamas, socks and pants again when we don't even need them. Whatever it is, as a general rule of thumb, underneath all that Christmas joy and happiness lies a deep-rooted anger that is ready to boil over at any minute. This certainly seemed to be the case for one Imgur user, who upset her grandmother after she accidentally revealed that she was gay. It's not quite clear what the girl said in order to initiate the big reveal, but she claims that she accidentally came out in front of her whole family, which includes her stereotypically homophobic grandma. Judging by her use of constant capital letters throughout the following text messages, emotions were clearly running very high in the family household. Uploading the photo to the image sharing platform Imgur, Katie, who is is the girl in question, captioned it: "The most terrifying five minutes of my life. but now that it's over, I'm kinda proud of this." The picture went viral on the website and Katie, who is just 16-years-old, decided to provide a bit more context to the story, providing us with what happened after the showdown. "the door was shut before i realized what i had said, and then i ran into the bathroom, where i sent that text. while i was hiding in the bathroom, my cousin knocked on the door, 'you can come out now' she said, followed by 'well i guess you already did that, but' anyway, we took refuge in her room" "apparently, after i left the room my grandmother turned to my mom and said something to the extent of 'how could you let your daughter become a queer' my mother, aunt, and uncle all went off at her for that one, there was quite a bit of yelling after a while, my mother came upstairs and told me that she supported me no matter what, and then we left without talking to my grandmother. "the next morning, she called to apologize for her actions. i have no idea how sincere this apology was because my mother was the one on the phone with her, but i am still invited to christmas." Well done to Katie's family for sticking up for the teenager, no one should be made to feel guilty for who they are. Also, it must be said, it was a great clapback by Katie when she told her cousin that she was just popping out to go to hell. Superb stuff. It's set to be a very awkward Christmas dinner around that family dinner. As I mentioned previously, if you're not having a major fallout with one member of your family at Christmas time - you're doing it all wrong.

One grandpa's response to his grandson coming out has warmed hearts on social media once again as the post continues to be a source of inspiration.

It would appear that there wasn't a dry eye in the house when Twitter user @chipotletwink shared how his grandfather reached out to him following the news that he was gay, and many Twitter users were quick to call the interaction the blueprint for how family members should react.

@chipotletwink, real name Travis, shared screenshots of the sweet text message conversation, he captioned the post: "finally came out to my grandpa and his response is so [teary-eyed emoji]."

The grandfather made his unwavering love and support known to Travis, starting the heartfelt text with: "Well Travis, I guess you're saying you're 'coming out.' First of all, our suspicions of this began many years ago. It's not something easily hidden but it certainly wasn't for us to come forth and ask you."

Travis' mother shared the news with his grandparents after he came out to the family, and the grandpa echoed the same supportive sentiment: "Mom is right, we don't care, we love you, want you to be happy and wish you success and will support you with whatever you chose to do with your life."

"I just don't want you to sell yourself short," the message continued, "I'm truly sorry you were afraid to approach us on this subject, especially if it caused you anxiety & stress."

The loving grandparent assured their grandchild that they will always have an open line of communication on any topic, something many in the comments highlight that not everyone is lucky to have when it comes to being queer.

"I thought I told you several times in the past that you can talk freely with me about anything that concerns you," he said, but understood that even in this day and age, many people are still unaccepting.

The grandpa then went on to highlight that they appreciate the difficulties people in the LGBTQ+ community face, writing: "Being heterosexual is much easier as you don't face possible criticism and prejudice."

"Enrique seems like a very nice guy and he'll be welcome here anytime. Love you," he capped off the internet-breaking text, proving that Travis' granddad is the ultimate ally.

At the time of writing, the Twitter post has been liked a whopping 206,000 times and retweeted over 8,000 times as users can't stop praising the grandpa's handling of the uplifting coming out story.

In a later post, Travis shared a picture with his love Enrique, who he had first told his family about when he came out, the caption read: "and this is my amazing boyfriend enrique @Onrickk."

The feel-good story had everyone sharing words of adoration for the grandpa in the tweet's replies, with one user writing: "Awe! Love your grandpa!! That is so so cool to hear esp coming from a GrandPa. We need more peps like him. Big HOLA to him. PLUS Enrique is already accepted. Oh Wow! [sic]."

Travis' post incited others to share their positive coming out stories, with another reply reading: "That is awesome. Congrats man. I told [my] grandma 12 years ago. Was the first person I came out [to] and her exact words were 'it's about God damn time.'

"Appears the only one who didn't know was me for the longest time."

And, as you can probably imagine, the heartwarming exchange left many people in tears:

Featured image credit: iliya Mitskovets / Alamy

Coming out as gay can be a formidable, intimidating experience, particularly if you are pretty sure your parents aren't going to be happy about the situation. Indeed, those who remember the news of a man who had waited 90 years before coming out of the closet at 95 years old - will know just how delicate an announcement it is to tell those closest to you who you really are. It is a regrettable truth of our ostensibly progressive society that many members of the LGBTQ+ community still don't feel comfortable in expressing their sexuality, whether due to peer pressure, fear of being bullied at school or concerns that their parents might not be very understanding of their sexual preferences. Life can also be tough once you have come out as gay, especially if your worst fears are realised and you are living under the roof of parents who disapprove of your lifestyle. Although attitudes towards homosexuality are improving in most societies, it is still not uncommon for the LGBTQ+ community to encounter hostility or a lack of support when it comes to their sexuality. Clearly, this is a damning indictment of our culture. Archaic attitudes towards homosexuality have no place in a forward thinking community that treats everyone equally, regardless of race, sex and sexuality. One set of siblings live with one such problem; their "conservative" parents, they feel, might not be entirely on board with their sexuality if they knew the truth, so they have devised something of an ingenious plan to ensure they can still date in line with their sexual preferences. In a post on Imgur that has since gone viral, the brother shared their brilliant rouse which allows them to go about their lives with their respective boyfriend/girlfriend without attracting the suspicion and ire of their conservative parents: "My sister is a lesbian and I’m gay but our parents are very conservative so she ‘dates’ my bf & I ‘date’ her gf, so if they stay over, they stay in opposite rooms, but jokes on my parents." Rather like the plot of a splendid play, the inspired solution means that the parents sleep easy believing that the two couples have been kept apart, when, in fact, they have ended up exactly where they wanted to be all along. It's a brilliant ruse, and particularly amusing when one considers the smirking and giggling at the dinner table. I just hope they have revised facts about each other's partners so that their genius plan can stand up to any potentially tricky questions from the parents. Of course, such a solution should not be necessary in an open, forward-thinking society that treats all of its members equally regardless of their sexuality. Moreover, if you don't have a sibling, then the solution wouldn't really work for you. However, if you do have a brother or sister, these siblings might well have found the jackpot.

A gay man who recently came out to his grandfather has shared the wholesome response he received - and it has left Twitter users in tears.

Make no mistake, homophobia - even in the Western world - is still very much a thing. So, when a young man named Travis came out to his grandpa, people were overwhelmed by the loving response he received.

Earlier this week, Travis, under the handle @chipotletwink, took to Twitter to share the loving text message his grandpa sent him following his coming out.

Alongside two screenshots, the young man wrote: "Finally came out to my grandpa and his response is so [teary-eyed emojis]."

His grandpa's lengthy text begins: "Well Travis, I guess you're saying you're 'coming out'. First of all, our suspicions of this began many years ago, It's not something easily hidden but it certainly wasn't for us to come forth and ask you.

"Your mom is right, we don't care, we love you, want you to be happy and wish you success, and will support you with whatever you choose to do with your life. I just don't want you to sell yourself short."

The grandpa then goes on to say that he is sorry Travis was "afraid" to approach him and talk openly about his sexuality.

"I thought I told you several times in the past that you can talk freely with me about anything that concerns you. Even in 2021 though, this can be a tough path for people to follow. Being heterosexual is much easier as you don't face possible criticism and prejudice."

He then adds that Travis' boyfriend, Enrique, seems like a very nice man, and he'd welcome him over with open arms anytime.

"Love you," he signs off the sweet message.

Since the tweet was posted just days ago, it has managed to rack up 8.5K retweets and over 200K likes.

Travis even posted a photo of him and his boyfriend in a follow-up tweet.

Needless to say, the original message made a lot of people very emotional.

One person said: "I'm going to cry so much right now. wish my parents could tell me the same things, but no. they're radical homophobic."

Another said: "Now I’m crying, my experience was the exact opposite."

A third joked: "Who is cutting onions in here?"

The grandpa also received plenty of praise for being so accepting of his grandson:

And some people shared their own coming out stories:

Overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support his post received, Travis later wrote in a separate tweet: "the replies under this are so sweet. im glad everyone is being nice to each other [sic]".

Featured image credit: Marc Bruxelle RF / Alamy Stock Photo