Ingrid Nilsen on Her Coming Out Video: The Response Has Been 'Overwhelming'

Ingrid Nilsen talks about the reaction to her coming out video at VidCon on Friday

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When Ingrid Nilsen decided to come out in front of millions of people on YouTube, she knew the reception wouldn’t be perfect.

“I think whenever anyone puts themselves in a vulnerable position … not everything is going to be perfect and sunshine and daisies,” Nilsen told her fans at VidCon on Friday.

Fortunately, Nilsen says most of the reactions have been “really positive,” and the support from her loyal followers “truly been overwhelming in the best way possible.”

She added, “I think it’s refreshing to see real people be humans and be proud of that, because I think human beings are beautiful and we need to embrace all the different facets of our lives.”

When asked by a fan how she knew it was time to come out, Nilsen, 26, explained that the need to be true to herself “was like this feeling inside of me that I just couldn’t contain.

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“I was in this limbo land between everybody knowing and being in the closet, and for me, that was almost worse than just being in the closet because when you’re at one extreme or another, you at least know what direction you’re going in.”

Over 11 million people have now tuned in to watch Nilsen’s coming out video, and the vlogger says reading stranger’s comments, and seeing how many other women identified with her feelings, reduced her to tears.

“I was just sat there and was crying and crying because I realized that there women out there that had never seen themselves reflected in a lesbian before.”

• Reporting by WILL ROBINSON and GABY OYLA