I'm in my early twenties and I know I am bisexual, but all my friends/family think I am a lesbian, so I don't know how to go about this. Throughout life, I have dated several guys, but for the past few years I've exclusively been seeing women. My only serious relationship was with a woman (it lasted a year - we broke up a few weeks ago). Here's a little timeline of my coming-out journey: Early 2015: Came out as bisexual to my family and close friends; they were very supportive Late 2015: Believed I was only into girls, so I revealed to my family/friends/close co-workers I was gay Now: Realising I'm indeed bisexual and always have been, accepting my ongoing sexual attraction to men as well as to women, and stressing over how my loved ones may react if I had a boyfriend Perhaps I shouldn't say anything at all. I feel so lost. It's like I'm continuously discovering myself, and am always going through major 'changes' and periods of self-realization. Why can't I just be one way and be done with it!? I wish I'd never told them I was a lesbian in late 2015; I wish I'd simply said I was bisexual and nothing else. I am very lucky to have extremely supportive family and friends, but I just fear they won't take me seriously, or that they'll think that I don't know who I really am. Maybe, if I have a boyfriend someday, I could just tell them I've met someone... and that the person is actually a 'he' and not a 'she'.
I'm a guy but I can relate to the confusion and lack of certainty. I came out in 2013 as bisexual (I thought it best to go with 'bisexual' since then I had most bases covered.) I know I'm attracted to guys, but deep down I wonder if I'm really attracted to women at all or if I'm just lying to myself about that because I can't handle the thought of being just gay. But then again in my younger days it was always one girl or another on my mind. which makes me doubt that I'm just gay. It's so confusing. My advice would be to just sit them down and have an honest conversation about the fact that you weren't sure and were probably bi all along. Then just leave it at that (even if you think you might be completely gay again, it doesn't matter because they'll just think you haven't met any guys you're interested in for a while.) It's okay to make mistakes every now and then, it's a part of being human. What will look bad though is if you keep declaring yourself to be one way and then the other and back and forth over and over again.
Honestly, I think it's up to you whether you want to correct them and come out again. You can date whoever you want, and you don't have to justify that to anyone. If you meet a guy and people raise an eyebrow just tell him them he makes you happy and you're together. Nothing else they say matters. There will always be people who don't understand, but that's not important. What matters is your happiness.
