Has empty closets helped you?

Yes, it has helped me a lot. In dispelling gender confuions I was struggling with for many years. And to see that interactions between people can take on a friendly and respectful form, people understanding each other, solving problems healthily. Mostly, though, it has helped by giving a place in which I could talk about my gender issues, which in meat space... is non-existent. And having tried several places in the web, this has been welcoming.

 

It has helped in some ways.

 

There have been times where it's helped out a lot and other times where it hasn't helped that much. Nowadays, I just use it because I like the general feeling this site has as opposed to other online forums that may not be designed for LGBT people but have sections for them.

 

What EC helps me with is being able to talk with other LGBT people about issues that are important to all of us. It's really something that's not easy to find in the real world and I'm grateful that this forum is here to allow us to come together and support one another.

 

Quite a bit. I've been learning to be more honest, and a fair bit of the time it's the only place I can vent and get these frustrations off me.
Hopefully I've been able to help others too, though I'll admit my interactions are novice at best.

It's great to escape the toxic attitude of the locals where I live. Sometimes I feel like all hope is lost, but there are others on here to remind me it isn't the whole world that revels in bigotry and violence.

 

Yup! When I first started questioning my sexuality I was so stressed and upset about it, and venting and explaining my feelings on here really helped.

 

Yes.

When I was first questioning I used a different forum, one for bicurious and bi girls. I'd come across this forum when I googled some stuff but never clicked on it as I was so in denial and thought I wasn't in any closet. Little did I know that it would help me in so many ways, assuring me I'm not alone, helping me through my overthinking, encouraging me to come out, celebrating the good reactions and giving advice for the not-so-positive ones. Things that no one in my actual-life could relate to. Now I have a girlfriend who I love and that totally gets all the gay/bi stuff as she's like me, and its amazing to be able to talk it all through face-to-face.

 

For me it's 50/50. On one hand, it's great to vent, talk to people that can empathize with my situation. On the other hand, me only being myself online seems like a dream that I have to keep waking up from every time I head back out to the world. Until I fully come out, and be myself 24/7, that seems the cruelest of all. So close, yet so far away

 

To be honest, not really. I feel just as empty here as I do anywhere else. I can't physically verbalize my struggle, and almost every response I've gotten was "*hugs* it'll get better," perhaps with a bit more to it, but that's all I've ever generally taken away. It's like I'm going through motions of life and gaining nothing from it, and then I come to EC and feel like I'm doing the same thing. I stick around anyway, in hopes something will help.

 

I came on here in 2011 because I was scared and desperate to find put who I was. I was getting ready to go to college and I did not know what to expect. At that time, I just thought that I was bisexual. I had not even made it to my gender identity yet. I was a part of a very homophobic church, and really had myself convinced that I was some terrible person.

It seems crazy that this was 6 years ago now. In those 6 years, I went through many identities, many labels, a a few names (both in real life and on here...lol). I went through handling my mother's illness and her passing on here. I went through handling my abusive relationship and eventually being made homeless because of it on here. I have basically a digital archive of the past 6 years of my life on here. When I am down sometimes it is helpful for me to read some of my old posts.

Without the support of this site, I'm not sure I ever would have come out. I was too scared to even admit things to myself when I first joined here. I was even scared to make an account here at first. I created the account under an email that I don't even remember anymore because I did not want anybody to track me down. Now, I'm out, I've transitioned. I've been on hormones for 3 years now, and living full time as male. I'm working in a correctional facility that handles males only. At most, people just think I'm a a gay guy..lol.

It's nice to have a place where I could vent, work through things and sometimes come to when I was at my wits end. If I didn't have that, I don't know where I would be at now.

 

Oh heck yeah. Not just about gay stuff, but life in general. It opened my eyes to a lot of issues. And made me interact with other people without leaving my cave

 

Im new and I hope for it to help me but sadly so far i feel as buried as on every other forum or social media site >.< It's like I got 0 presence everywhere.

 

Yes, it did and does. It has helped me to understand myself better, to grow as a person, to find the courage to come out and probably will help me in the future. At the moment I'm trying to get better in dealing with homophobic remarks.

 

Hey you will be welcome here. If you want to discuss something specific make a thread or jump in on the others. The fun and games section is a good place to start if you aren't sure.

 

I'm new to EC and really enjoying it. I joint to meet some wonderful people and to get help to be able to come out to my parents. I haven't been able to come to my parents. But I have met some wonderful people here and feel like I have a family here that excepts me for who I am and

doesn't judge me. That means a lot to me. Thanks!

xoxo