I live in semi-rural Georgia (Bible Belt). My being an Atheist is of no real issue. I am originally from Western New York State, and it was no issue there either.

I'm not an atheist, I'm agnostic. I just express my opinions, without announcing I'm agnostic. Since most people are agnostic, I encounter few or no problems. Besides, the subject never comes up.
Why do you feel the need to "come out" as anything? Do you incite arguments because you enjoy the discussions it generates? To crystallize your own point of view?
I used to have theological debates with my devout Catholic mother, but I'm bored with it now. I just live my life.

For the life of me I can't seem to come to 'grips' with this " I'm an Agnostic Atheist" idea/comment.
To put it in simple terms, is NOT an Agnostic simply one who is UNSURE as to whether a god, etc, actually exists and an Atheist simply is one denies/rejects the possibility that ANY God, etc, has ever or will ever exist because it cannot be proven empirically and undeniably?
Therefore, in simple terms, could it not be said that an Agnostic Atheist, a misnomer imho, is nothing more than a person who NOT ready to be an Atheist simply because he/she is AFRAID that he/she may just be wrong and cause offence to this Supreme Entity, i.e. 'hedging their bets' in simply terms.
Why try to walk the middle of the road where the traffic is heaviest when the sides are much less congested in the first place.
Either admit openly and clearly that you ARE an Atheist and stand tall and proud or just remain in closet so to speak and go along with the flow of the flock.

it wasn't for me, because i was never closeted. i have always been open about my lack of belief in any gods, even when i realized, at the age of 15, that they didn't exist. it isn't as if i got asked a lot. i am trying to think whether i ever got asked, at least until the internet arrived. but my observation of what others, from religious families or communities or workplaces, have experienced leads me to believe that there is a parallel. i think "coming out" is an apt expression to use.

g

Coming out is coming out I guess

No.

Absolutely. Any controversial position has those moments of "coming out". The gay version happens to make for good drama...so good that it has risen to the level of cliché.

They even jumped the shark with it in one of the X-men movies when a mutant had to "come out" to his "conservative" parents. Oh, that was a lot of cringe!

Is tough