I haven't had a negative reaction any number of the times I've come out in real life, but that's because I spend a very long time assessing people before saying anything. I could never tell my parents (especially my mother) because I know their reactions would be negative, and the consequences severe.

You have to remember, when talking online, people aren't your friends, and they don't care about offending you or being rude. Those you tell in real life will have a personal connection to you; they're more likely to care about your feelings and less likely to have knee-jerk reactions.

That said, having told your friends and brothers, I think you're very lucky. Especially with family, it can very easily backfire. Please be careful.

Where exactly have you been talking on the internet? Or perhaps I should ask, who have you been telling? I find it... atypical, that your online interactions have been more negative than your face-to-face ones. Then again, there are so many factors that I can't really say whether your experience is odd or not.

Although, I am glad you have people in your real life that are ok with it. Just, as Tundrovvy said, be careful. This sort of thing is exceedingly difficult to discern who would be ok with it, even if you know a person well.

As far as myself, I have only told one person I know in real life. It was a few years ago, and at the time I was really struggling with my zoophilia. I was too afraid/shy to make an account somewhere online where I could talk to other zoos, and I felt like I needed to talk about it. So, I called up my friend, who is a very understanding person, and, well, basically spent 15-30 minutes awkwardly trying to work up the nerve to say what I was trying to. I finally manage to do so, and she said she was ok with it. Needless to say, I'm glad I have someone who understands in real life. However, I find that just because someone is ok with zoophilia, doesn't mean that you are likely to actually talk about it much. Heck, until I brought it up a few months ago again, my friend said she had forgotten that I'm a zoo.

best friends, my brothers.

These are people that already know you and I presume they already know you're not an animal abuser.

But be careful: Especially from the US you quite frequently hear these stories about teenagers who think they can tell their parents that they're gay or something like that and then it turns out they severely misjudged what reaction they would get and end up getting kicked out or worse.

I personally haven't told anyone. Only one other zoo I have met on the internet knows about it.

I don't see a reason to come out to anyone but a person you have a close relationship with, someone whom you feel comfortable having a close confidence in and you wouldn't want to hide an important part of yourself or your past from them. But I don't think I would have ever told even close friends, as talk tends to travel and opinions of people change rapidly. I can't imagine how my life would have changed if my friends and family knew this about me. Some people in my life were extremely dark and judgmental and told me horrible things about people I knew, even people in my own family... so I didn't think I was immune to this kind of attack when my back was turned.

I'm well aware that there's a double standard as well. I think if you were a young guy and a rumor got out that you had sex with an animal, it would mostly seem silly, juvenile or just one of those things that "boys do." As a girl it may have destroyed my social life based on how other girls I knew were treated and talked about for far lesser "crimes."

In my case it was my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time. The only person I ever revealed my secret to besides anonymous discussions on the internet. I keep VERY guarded online when talking about this subject. But for real-life, I could not possibly continue a relationship that was built on honesty and trust without revealing this major thing which was part of my past and connected to a lot of my memories and feelings towards sexuality. I didn't want to resume any activities but I wanted him to know my secret, both for him and for me, to see if it was something that was a deal breaker... I didn't want it to come out years later and have him feel betrayed.

I wrote about it in a few earlier posts, but the short version is that it was very awkward, but went much better than I had feared.

Interestingly, I've been surprisingly well received in the last year or so on-line in equine communities. The absolute worst that happened to me is getting blocked by folks who didn't want to interact with me. In general the groups I've been in have been extremely accepting. Of course, they often got to read about my love for my mare in a context outside of sexual and then came to realize as I continued that no, that part of it too was involved. To be completely honest, I've been extremely surprised at how little anger or hate has been directed my way recently.

It seems to me that a few people out to get you can change an entire group. Furries come to mind, but two years ago I had a situation where I was getting death threats and such and what i found out is one person was going around telling anyone I talked to a bunch of crap. If it wasn't for that one individual I believe the community would have been just as accepting. Oh, they wouldn't want to talk about it, but out of sight was perfectly okay. So, interestingly, no, I've not noticed what you have in a broad sense. :)

As for in person, I've never had a negative reaction. But I've not told a whole lot of folks either. I wish I could be so clavilier to say who I lost my virginity to like that. Then again, no one I know in person is likely to ask that, so who knows what might come out of my mouth if they do. Hehe.

I can understand how you get more insults online than when you are talking to someone face to face. It's only natural for that to be the case because by talking to someone face to face you develop a better idea of that persons personality and thus a more personal bond between that person, even if it the first time you met them. While when you are talking to someone on, persay, your phone, they appear more anonymous to you, even if you have talked to them for a long time.

Personally, i have never gotten the opportunity to tell someone in person, my parents are diehard zoophile haters, and i havent really had the opportunity to make long-term friends, but i do still know that telling someone in person is far more relieving and honest for both you and the person than telling them online.

I am out to the majority of the people I play online games with, but that I do not know in "real life". The majority has been surprisingly positive. Though, I am slightly worried about my friends I have in real life somehow finding out through those people, either through an off-hand comment or something else. I try to keep them seperated as best I can.

To clarify: the people that know are within a specific server community, of which my IRL friends are not a part of.

I actually just came out to my human partner's parents this past weekend. I only met one of my partner's parents for the first time and was able to discuss this with them. They said they loved me anyway and that I was brave for sharing it with them.

All of my friends know that I am zoo as well and they love me regardless. I also came out to my mom before she passed away and got a gesture of approval. I think the most vocal people are online and hiding behind a computer screen so they feel they can easily say whatever they want to.

Also, assessing people before telling them is always a good idea. If they are hardcore animal rights activists or fundamentalists, they may not be welcoming. But then again, I don't keep anyone around in my life who can't accept me for who I am anyway.

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Thank you to everyone for responding, sorry I haven't been responding to peoples post my int has been acting kind of funny lately.

All my friends and family who I have Came out to are accepting :) It definitely gives one hope :)