COMING out as gay or lesbian is still seen as a difficult process, with fears of being shunned by friends and family.

However, one woman is hoping to inspire and reassure others after she was chosen as one of Diva Magazine’s Power List of 100 inspirational and high-profile lesbians in the UK.

Helen Scott, 25, of Clayhill Road, Basildon, was amazed when she heard she had been selected.

The freelance presenter said: “I’m on the list with these Olympians and then there is little me from Basildon.

“I got an email from Diva Magazine saying I had been nominated.

“I put out a tweet thanking whoever it was that nominated me and then people started voting for me.”

She believes she was nominated for being open about her sexuality on social media.

Helen, who attended Kingswood Junior School and Woodlands School, realised she was a lesbian when she was about 15 and she started secretly dating another girl.

She said: “At the time, I wasn’t sure if is was just experimenting but no-one knew about it.

“I knew for certain when I came out when I was 17 and I was lucky that my family has been very supportive.

“I had a really good peer group at school as well.”

She added that she was aware of friends who had suffered abuse growing up because of their sexuality, especially male friends who were gay who had sometimes had punches thrown at them.

She added: “It is sad that this happens.

“I am quite girly and don’t look like a stereotypical butch lesbian and I am open about being a lesbian. I will talk to everyone about it including taxi drivers.

“I am quite happy for people to ask me any questions that they might have.

“People don’t like what they can’t understand.

“If it doesn’t fit into a box in our head they don’t like it so people are always welcome to ask me anything.”

Contact her on Twitter @HelenScottUK