In early 1990s, a young Rachel Maddow was a student at Stanford University who had just figured out that she was gay in a Stanford freshman class that had nearly-zero out students.

"I decided I was going to come out in a very confrontational way," Maddow wrote in a Newsweek article in 2012. "So a friend who was coming out at the same time and I did and interview with the student newspaper about being the only two gay freshman on campus."

Maddow had already publicly come out in her dorm earlier in the winter by posting a public letter in her freshman dorm. The student newspaper, the Stanford Daily wrote the public letter was in response to homophobic comments Maddow had heard.

After debating the issue at length with her roommate, Maddow decided to go public by posting a letter in Paloma, an all freshmen dormitory. She agonized over her decision while in bed with the flu, and then "during one of my palpitations I just got up and wrote the letter," she said. Before posting her letter in the bathroom stalls, Maddow discussed her homosexuality with several close friends. It would be "heinous for them go read it in the bathroom like everyone else," she explained. Students admired Maddow's courage. "Why didn't you tell us before?" was the only negative reaction she received, she said. Maddow said she came out of the closet in response to several homophobic comments that she had heard in her dorm "I wanted to be there, not to stifle those comments, but to address them," she added. "I wanted to attach my face to those comments and see if they still wanted to say them."

The article in the Daily goes on to interview Maddow and Saydeah Howard, "two of the only openly lesbian freshmen on campus," about their decisions to come out. Although Maddow says that she initially "feared that people would run away from her in the lunch line" if she revealed that she was gay, coming out improved her life in a number of ways.

Coming out has also been a positive experience for Maddow, who said she feels more comfortable and happy with herself now. She said she has moved from vulnerable to confident, and that everything in her life is now more coherent. In the past, Maddow's homosexuality had been a barrier to close friendships, she said. To prevent people from realizing she was gay, Maddow shut herself off from other people. Coming out has solidified Maddow's friendships, with both men and women. "I'm a lot closer to all my friends," she said. "I don't feel like I've lost any friends." Being friends with men is easier than ever, since "it's a total bonding experience," Maddow said. "There's no tension, no pressure. It's wonderful."