Michael Gorlick Documents Coming Out On YouTube

It's hard to reveal something personal about yourself to those you care about, let alone the entire Internet.

But that's just what Michael Gorlick did.

The 23-year-old recently came out to his family and friends, documenting the whole thing in a YouTube video.

Starting in Vancouver, where he lived for a year, and driving through the States to end up back home in Toronto, Gorlick filmed his road trip — and coming out of the closet — in a video entitled "Road to Coming Out." It was posted on Oct. 10 and as of Oct. 14, had over 2,000 views. The video shows Gorlick coming out to his loved ones in between clips of him talking to the camera, explaining what this hard and gratifying journey was like for him — and why he decided to make the whole thing public.

"This [video] is what I wish I had before I started my journey," he told The Huffington Post B.C. from Toronto, where he currently lives. "Before I started on this path I was filled with fear and anxiety about what the future would bring. I wasn't sure how my life would change. But I knew on a deeper level that my life would be much more authentic if I let my true self show."

Gorlick credits his time in Vancouver with helping him accept his sexuality.

"On a subconscious level I always knew I was gay, but it was not fully conscious or accepted within me until I moved to Vancouver," he says. "I was working in a restaurant there and I started to realize these feelings were not going to change. So I decided to begin to accept who I really am in my heart and release the self loathing and shame.

"I told my co-workers I was gay, but began to feel guilty that my family and friends back home in Toronto did not know this aspect of me," Gorlick continues. "And so I began my road trip home with my trusty video camera."

The video ends with the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis song "Same Love," which for Gorlick represents a larger social acceptance of those who are gay.

"I am so thankful that we live in a society where songs like 'Same Love' can be on the top of the charts," Gorlick says. "The world we live in is changing, and I want to be a part of the change."

Gorlick hopes his video encourages others to not only accept, but embrace and be happy with who they are. He sure is.

"Although this process was hard, I wouldn't change it for the world," says Gorlick. "I am now who I was meant to be, and the relationships in my life are forever stronger. I am proud to be gay, and more than that, I am proud to be myself."