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Acknowledgment vs. Acceptance of your sexuality?

Discussion in 'Sexual Orientation' started by curiouspasserby, Apr 3, 2022.

  1. Gay Brett

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    Joolz66, did you find relief in enjoying the sex with another man and not just thinking about it or getting off to the idea of it anymore?

    I too would rationalize and bargain immediately after fantasizing about gay sex and this would cause concern that my obvious attraction was not real. But then when I finally was doing all the things I always wanted to do with a man I experienced tremendous joy that I was really gay.

    This joy was a big help in my acceptance. It also gave me confidence in dating men that I would not be afraid to fall in love with one or mislead a guy who desired a long term relationship that would require both men in it to be fully out of closet.

    I just reached a place were my want of having a boyfriend became much stronger than my fear of people knowing I had one.
     
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  2. Joolz66

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    The relief was enormous and it felt so natural, it was like i had rehearsed it a million times in my head and it felt like it just flowed. That's when I was forced out of my denial and into acknowledgement. Once the genie was out the bottle the next challenge has become waking up, in a heterosexual marriage, to the fact that im actually gay and what that means for me..
     
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  3. Rainbow64

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    Acknowledgement is the first step, so give yourself credit for that. Acceptance and loving yourself for who you are comes later. It takes time to work through internalized homophobia. Be patient and love yourself. You are worth it
     
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  4. Joolz66

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    It’s a great point, acknowledgment comes after denial and denial can take a long time to wake up from..for me too acknowledgement was the first step in being more honest with myself about my same sex attraction. Funny thing is once I started being more honest with myself the more I begun to see other parts of my life I’ve ignored or denied too.
     
    #24 Joolz66, Jun 4, 2022
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2022
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  5. OneThatGotAway

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    i mean it is strange if you have opinionated family , which mine is. I dont speak to my parents and haven't since 16(im 26 and several attempts have been made). My youngest brother (18) cant even talk about it at home. I think sexuality and gender are very broad subjects and personally i had not found a description as to who i am until recently .
     
  6. Haruto

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    I feel like acknowledgement is a step before acceptance. Acknowledgement, by definition is awareness of something. I think it's when we say, (i.e. "You know what, I might just be gay.") Acceptance is when you think of it as you. (i.e. "I'm gay.") Think if it like coming out - to yourself. (I mean, that's actually what it is.) I thought I could be bisexual when I watched TV and realized the male and female characters were attractive. That was acknowledgement. Being aware of the fact that you might be [blank]. Acceptance was when I started using bisexual as my label. Or for you, maybe something else.

    I know this was a long speech, but thanks for listening to my Ted Talk.