Good for you! I hope it opens up a whole new world of finding lots of people to engage with. It's interesting the idea of "coming out" because it does have so many similarities of coming out as gay (which is not as big a thing these days in many -- though not all -- parts of the world). There's the same fear of seeing someone you know when you're not out, and I'm bet there's the same "are they or aren't they?" speculation about people who show some tendencies.

Anyway, I've never been to a public gathering of spankos. I think I'd feel just as far from BDSM types as I would from Christian DD/HOH (Head of Household) types. Not judging either, but neither is really my thing. (And there are definitely nuts in all types of kinks!)