I have a couple of friends who know that I'm a collared submissive. But it wasn't until very recently that I "confessed" to my best friend of over 25 years about my lifestyle. I'm not sure exactly why I had not told her before, since she's known just about everything about me and vice versa. I need not have worried about her. I decided that since she supported me and accepted me for everything else I was or had done, that she wouldn't have a problem with my living the BDSM lifestyle. And I was right.
My family, on the other hand, don't know. I really don't have much more of my family left. My mother has seen my collar, but she only sees it as a necklace, and that's what I'm letting her think that it is. My brother and sister-in-law probably haven't noticed it, since they notice so little about me already (bad blood there between us, can you tell?). And to be honest, what I am is none of their business.