I came out as bi freshman year of high school to my small group of friends I had. Since then I've been outed by my dad to my family and friends a few years back after my sister snitched on me to my parents. I'm still very bitter about the whole situation and sexuality is a very shameful and embarrassing topic for me (especially since i was raised mormon so sex in general is), but i still can be open to people who ask about my sexuality and outright say that I'm bi. im graduating high school this year and i'm just getting over a unrequited crush of two years so i figured it's time to start getting involved with the LGBT+ community since i feel like i have so much to develop and learn and stop being so embarrassed about myself. I have a lot of questions and little to no experience so im really hoping to bloom and start being proud!!!
Im currently in freshmen year and im questioning right now myself, and welcome to Empty Closets!!! I hope you enjoy your time here
Welcome to EC! Sorry about the bitter outing... things could/should have gone more smoothly. About the crush... geez louise we could/should have an entire sub-forum just on that topic alone. (If you feel like venting, post away.) It sounds good that your out status is if-asked-then-tell, it's nice to hear that people in general (and you in particular) can be that way. This is the right place to make friends, and bloom and be proud!
Welcome! I'm sorry you had problems with being outed before you were ready. I agree that many of your experiences will be shared on here, including growing up Mormon.
It only clicked for me about a week before I turned 18, when I liked a woman who, for the first time, was also exclusively into women. I feel like that had something to do with the realisation. A bit late these days, but I think the ongoing trauma throughout my childhood had a lot to do with the denial. Even when a teacher accidentally outed me in front of a lot of people years earlier - including my mother, who's reaction I can't remember because I seem to have blocked it out - I completely dissociated from what the incident and didn't recognise what had actually happened. Literally a few moments later, I forgot about/dismissed it and carried on acting like it never happened... until everything clicked years later and I looked back on it, realising literally *everyone* knew before I did, which feels very disempowering (including the rest of my family, who I'm sure were told without my permission as well.) That's why this forum feels like the only safe place for this stuff. It might sound sad, but certain issues discussed on here have been the best substitute for parental guidance I've ever had.
Ah, you shouldn't read into it so much, the internet is just like that sometimes It's not the same, but your experience reminds me of some bullying I received when I was young for acting gay. It was only many years later that I understood what had happened and how it had affected me. I retrospect it was super-obvious but in the moment I couldn't process it correctly. Strange what the brain can do in these situations.
Welcome to EC! I came out as gay senior year of high school. It got out before I was ready. That is never a fun time. I'm sorry that you had to go through that as well. I didn't come out or even question my gender until I was in college. Sometimes it takes a little bit to get a reply, so don't worry too much about that. It is really sad because if you don't have any LGBT family there often times is not anybody that it feels safe to talk with. I hope that you can find what info you need here
