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“Freshman To Senior Year, Does This Count As A Glo Up?” People Are Sharing Their Coming-Out ‘Glo Ups’
For those of you not in the know, to ‘glo up’ is something akin to the old ugly duck syndrome, a transformation from awkward, gangly teen to smoking hot in your senior years. It can occur either physically through the development of new ‘assets’ during puberty, or from simply gaining the self-acceptance and therefore confidence to hold yourself with a degree of sass previously absent.
Caitlin Crowley, 17 and from Naples, Florida, is a good example of the latter. She jokingly tweeted before and after pics of herself, four years ago and now, with the caption “Does this count as a glo up???”
In the first pic is her and her old friend Dylan, back in freshman year and all dolled up, but with a body language that suggests that romance is not on the cards. Nevertheless, they were and remain great friends. It was the ‘now’ pic that has resonated with people. Confident, carefree and clearly in love, Caitlin is kissing her girlfriend Kirrin Chew, who she has been dating for a year now.
Inspired by the beauty of her transformation and obvious happiness since ‘coming out,’ others with similar experiences started sharing their gay glo up pics with an outpouring of love and positivity. The viral posts show other young people that may be struggling to come to terms with their sexuality to see that coming out, while often difficult, can also be a joyful and liberating experience.
Scroll down to see people’s pictures and experiences below, and feel free to share your own stories in the comments!
More info: Twitter (h/t: Insider)
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can I just say, I love the fact she found a tall girl~ it reminds me of my husband and me before........Im, 7'3 so he was my small lil guy before.... we left each other
thats kinda rude its not "gay s**t" i might be bisexual but kinda offends me
I am so happy to see how times have changed...when I was a teenager 25 years ago, you were either "gay" or "straight" which made for confusing times for someone like myself who was attracted to both sexes. Bravo acceptance and change!
I was a teenager 25 years ago too, living with my mom and a closeted stepdad, whom I loved dearly. When I grew up, and they split up, I realized that he had tried living a relatively "out" lifestyle in the 70's......but the societal pressure was too much. I watched him try to live the straight life for 17 years. He was always a loving guy, but once he was finally able to be OUT for real, starting in his early 40's, he was just so, so much happier. Nobody should have to suppress who they are. I'm glad he got at least a decade of being his true self before he passed. (Totally irrelevant to what you said, I guess, but let's just say I remember that time, too)
Load More Replies...I am very happy for these people who are able to be themselves now but what i don't like is the need for validation from other people, i know confidence isn't something everyone has and that but i just wish people could just be who they are, its sad that people have to make a big deal of being who they are but unfortunately the world is still a shallow, intolerable place.
Yay for finding yourself... but it is okay to take a photo with your significant other where you aren't making out. We will still believe you are a couple... I promise.
I LOVE THIS! Now, I have a questions, kind of a food for thought type thing......there are MANY more women openly displaying affection in these pics than there are men. Do you think that's an indication of how far we still need to go, in terms of making the world a safer place for LGBTQ men, in particular? Or do you think we just have more female pandas, or it's coincidence, etc..
I thought the exact same thing. I think overall, women still care more about these type of things and are more willing to participate. Also combined with the fact that it may have been easier for them to go to prom since they didn't have to do the asking out. I feel a lot of gay men (myself included) didn't go to prom cause it just didn't feel right and they knew the fake happiness wasn't worth it.
Load More Replies...They're all look so much happier in the "after" photos. That's amazing that they're all out, accepted and loved.
I am so happy to see how times have changed...when I was a teenager 25 years ago, you were either "gay" or "straight" which made for confusing times for someone like myself who was attracted to both sexes. Bravo acceptance and change!
I was a teenager 25 years ago too, living with my mom and a closeted stepdad, whom I loved dearly. When I grew up, and they split up, I realized that he had tried living a relatively "out" lifestyle in the 70's......but the societal pressure was too much. I watched him try to live the straight life for 17 years. He was always a loving guy, but once he was finally able to be OUT for real, starting in his early 40's, he was just so, so much happier. Nobody should have to suppress who they are. I'm glad he got at least a decade of being his true self before he passed. (Totally irrelevant to what you said, I guess, but let's just say I remember that time, too)
Load More Replies...I am very happy for these people who are able to be themselves now but what i don't like is the need for validation from other people, i know confidence isn't something everyone has and that but i just wish people could just be who they are, its sad that people have to make a big deal of being who they are but unfortunately the world is still a shallow, intolerable place.
Yay for finding yourself... but it is okay to take a photo with your significant other where you aren't making out. We will still believe you are a couple... I promise.
I LOVE THIS! Now, I have a questions, kind of a food for thought type thing......there are MANY more women openly displaying affection in these pics than there are men. Do you think that's an indication of how far we still need to go, in terms of making the world a safer place for LGBTQ men, in particular? Or do you think we just have more female pandas, or it's coincidence, etc..
I thought the exact same thing. I think overall, women still care more about these type of things and are more willing to participate. Also combined with the fact that it may have been easier for them to go to prom since they didn't have to do the asking out. I feel a lot of gay men (myself included) didn't go to prom cause it just didn't feel right and they knew the fake happiness wasn't worth it.
Load More Replies...They're all look so much happier in the "after" photos. That's amazing that they're all out, accepted and loved.