InkBlog

• As the number of people identifying as transgender continues to grow, more and more people are coming forward with inspirational coming out stories.
• Benton Sorensen and Tom Sosnik both came out as trans to their classmates in moving speeches at school. 
• Drew Price's parents each got trans flag tattoos when he came out, and his tweet about it went viral. 
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Each year, more and more people are coming out as transgender. 

In fact, a Williams Institute study in 2016 found that 0.6% of adults in the US identified as trans, while in 2017, GLAAD found that 3% of the population was transgender. 

As this population continues to grow, more people are coming forward with their inspirational coming out stories. While some came out to their classmates in school presentations, others made their announcement in public letters and YouTube videos. 

Here are some of the most inspirational transgender coming out stories. 

A transgender man had a hilarious gender reveal photo shoot after coming out to his mother.

In 2019, Adrian Brown came out to his mother as transgender at 20 years old. 

"The decision to come out was really scary," Brown told NBC News. "The hardest part was coming out to myself, accepting myself and loving myself for who I am."

When he came out to his mother, Heather Lundberg Green, she accepted him immediately. She even planned a gender reveal photo shoot where she pretended to be pregnant and then wrapped Brown in a blanket as if he was a baby. The photos instantly went viral on Facebook. 

"When your child comes out as trans, the best thing to do is create a photo shoot to celebrate the fact that he silently and bravely stepped out of the race that he never wanted to be in, found his own lane and proceeded to win," she wrote on Facebook.

A transgender man's parents got matching tattoos of the trans flag after he came out.

In May 2019, Drew Price, a transgender person from Australia, tweeted that his parents got matching trans flag tattoos after he came out to them. 

"You wouldn't believe how much we've grown as a family," Price wrote in his Tweet. "When I started to come out, things were so horrible, we didn't know how to communicate. I'm as proud of them as they are of me." 

The tweet picked up traction and went viral, prompting many to send Price messages of love and support. 

"I felt incredibly loved and accepted," Price told Insider. "It was overwhelming actually, I know I am incredibly lucky to have parents that love and accept me for who I am. There were ups and downs, but they are both my No. 1 supporters."

During a class presentation, a student came out as transgender.

In 2014, Benton Sorensen came out to his college class during a presentation on the idea of "inspiration." In the presentation, he teaches his classmates about what it means to be transgender, why he felt the need to transition, and how his life has changed since then. 

"If I hadn't been honest with myself when I did, I wouldn't be here today to experience things like this," he said in his speech. 

The YouTube video of the presentation went viral, garnering over two million views.

Tom Sosnik also came out during a school speech.

Tom Sosnik was 13 years old when he gave a moving speech in front of his classmates. He opened the speech by saying he was motivated to speak up after Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year-old trans girl, took her own life because her family would not accept her. 

"For a while, I dismissed the fact that I hated my body," Sosnik said in the speech. "I pretended to be content with what I was assigned until at a certain point, I broke."

He goes on to explain that he understands it may be difficult for some to accept his transition, but that he hopes they would treat him with the respect he deserves. 

"Thank you for all making me feel safe enough for openly being myself," he said at the end of speech before wiping away a few tears. 

A transgender professor came out in an open letter that went viral.

When Amy Ko earned tenure at The Information School at the University of Washington, she decided to come out at a transgender. She published a letter on Medium, titled "I'm Trans! Call Me Amy," which explained what it's like to be transgender in the world of coding and academia. 

"I've gained more courage than I've lost, and I'm ready to come out," she wrote. "Why so publicly? First, it's not really possible to transition in private in such a public role. It's part of my job to be known. I also recognize how being out in my academic communities might give others courage to be their authentic selves. But most importantly to me, I've also learned that no person can accept themselves fully without also having some small forms of validation from those around them. I hope coming out means that you might affirm my identity, so I can more fully accept myself."

When the letter was published, it went viral, causing many to praise Ko for coming out in such a public way. 

A 14-year-old transgender girl also came out to her school in an emotional letter, and her parents said they were "blown away" by the response.

After coming out and having the support of her parents, Gia Fisher had the option to transfer to a new middle school to start over after her transition. But Gia wanted to transition and stay at her usual school, so she devised a plan to come out. She wrote a heartfelt letter to her classmates and teachers, explaining that she will now be coming to school in girl's clothing and living as a female. 

To her and her family's surprise, the community was extremely supportive of Gia and welcomed her into their lives. Luchina Fisher, Gia's mother, wrote an essay on GoodMorningAmerica.com that explained her daughter's coming out story. 

"We were blown away by how seamless the transition was. A week later our house was filled with 12 boisterous teenage girls for Gia's 13th birthday party," Fisher wrote in the essay. "The co-ed cross country team she'd run for since fifth grade welcomed her back with open arms and made her captain of the girls' team, which she helped lead to one of their best seasons while making all-conference and all-state. Gia has always been an A-student but now her teachers were saying how happy she seemed in class."

YouTuber Nikita Dragun told her fans in a moving, tearful video that she is transgender.

Nikita Dragun made a name for herself on YouTube, creating makeup tutorials that fans loved. In 2015, however, she posted a more personal video titled "I Am Transgender." In the clip, she explains that she has not been as open or truthful with her fan base.

"I took a big moment when everyone was out of the house, sitting literally in front of a bathroom door, and I recorded it," Dragun told USA Today about the video. "I cried so much and was like, 'No, I could never post this.'"

She refused to post the video for a month, but when she did, she finally came out to her fans and family. 

"Up to that point, I wasn't really that honest with my following. Like, I never really addressed whether I was trans or not," Dragun said. "I was being such a little scaredy-cat. I thought If I recorded it and put it out online then I would have to face it."

One mother decided to make a heartwarming documentary after her daughter came out.

When Vlada Knowlton was taking her child to daycare one day, her 4-year-old talked about the difficulty of being assigned male at birth. In response, Knowlton filmed her child's transition from male to female. In 2018, Vlada Knowlton released "The Most Dangerous Year," which chronicled the child's transition.

Her daughter's coming out also inspired Knowlton to highlight the problem with the "bathroom bills" in the documentary, which were proposed laws that would ban gender-neutral bathrooms and would not allow her daughter to go to the bathroom in the one that she preferred. 

"I think that's what's missing a lot from the media narrative about transgender people, too," Knowlton said. "And it's really important for us to start thinking about this. This is crucial: These are just regular, everyday kids. They're no different from anybody else."

• Read more:
• 9 viral stories of people coming out that will warm your heart
• 15 inspiring photos of families around the world with same-sex parents
• 8 times parents of LGBTQ children inspired the internet
• 20 professional athletes who identify as LGBTQ

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