How has your attitude about LGBT people changed over the years?

I mainly didn't care much about the community up until I realized that I was gay. I didn't dislike the community, I just didn't see a reason to care. I did find the concept of coming out fascinating before I realized who I was and then I both started caring much more for the community and also realized how much more of a struggle something like coming out actually can be. For trans people in particular, I had no idea trans people existed up until around 2009/2010 when I was starting middle school and found some trans people on YouTube. I never doubted that trans people existed but I never really thought about the struggles that a trans person has to deal with until 2014 when my high school had a policy change in support of trans people and finally heard first hand the type of shit they have to deal with.

 

I did a complete 180 degree turnaround.

When I was younger, I was a bigoted as they come.

However, deep down I felt an odd connection with the LGBT community. For example, I was always enthralled when I met a gay person. No idea why. In retrospect I was quite obviously non-gender conforming but I denied this for a long time. Instead I focused my energy on making it known what an "abomination" it was, and how it wasn't real, as if I said it enough then it would be true. Until I was fifteen, I didn't even know that transgender people existed aside from vague mentions of it in the media. Honestly the only remembrance of a "transgender guy" I had was from the film 50 First Dates where the main character meets a person formally called Jennifer and congratulations them on finally getting their gender reassignment surgery. It was a somewhat less-than-respectful representation for comedy's sake, but it still evoked a curiosity in me. I suppose a part of me went, "man, I wish I could do that."

When I came to accepting myself as trans, and becoming a part of this community, my eyes were opened. For the first time the letters in that acronym had value and humanity attached to it. The previous views showed themselves to be narrow and superficial. It took a lot of time, thinking, and reconciliation to get where I am now.

Yeah, though, stereotypes have definitely been dispelled. This community has a lot more character and vibrancy than I initially reckoned. But it's good. At the end of the day we are all just people, like anybody else.

 

It was the culmination of a few things that can all connect back to me being oblivious about certain things. I never felt attraction for anybody I went to middle school with but I just assumed that was normal. I've also been fantasizing about being in certain situations with men since not long after I started puberty, I just never thought about it until high school when somebody outright asked what my sexuality was and I said I didn't know. Cut to summer of 2015, I was reading a certain kind of manga that normally doesn't have much plot but this specific story did. Basically it affected me deeply and finally forced me to confront everything about myself (there's other things that made it somewhat obvious but I can't remember them at the moment as it's 2 AM where I'm at and I should probably be sleeping) and realized that I woildnt be happy with my life if I were to marry anyone other than a man. Since then over the course of almost two years, I can now pretty firmly say I'm Gay.

 

When I was younger, I had a lot of compassion for the community. There weren't many people that identified as gay at school but I seemed to have a number of gay friends. I saw them as individuals just like anyone else. So I guess they felt they could talk about anything including being gay and I was okay with that.

As I've come to terms with my sexuality and started coming out, I have an immense amount of admiration because I knew how hard coming out is.

I also didn't know any trans people. Then I met someone who was transitioning a couple of years ago through work. It was so nice to be a part of her journey and to make her feel confident to be herself!

 

Before I learned why people were trans, I didn't like it. Well, now I understand why people are trans, and also, I am no longer 12. So, now I defend trans people when people say they are doing it for attention or that they are sinning or whatever people say, because gender dysphoria is a real thing, and being trans is a real thing

 

I used to be super homophobic and transphobic before I came out. I think that a lot of that was because I really did not want to admit to myself that I was transgender and not straight. Clearly, I'm not homophonic and transphobic now. It took me a long time to get over the shame that came from what I had said to LGBT people in the past.

 

I never knew it existed until I was like, 15 and even then I was just like "ok. They're people. People do what they want. It's their life, their choices". I still got the chill attitude about it.

 

Trans stuff I only had an idea of as far as medical stuff went, but I'd never encounter a trans person until I was like 14 or 15. Orientation wise, I thought everyone was bi/pan, and never questioned it until people made me feel like it was a big deal. I had a few problematic streaks, but hasn't everyone? I wouldn't say I was deeply homophobic (hell, some people and I joked about how silly the idea of homophobia was--that people were literally afraid of gay people in a similar way to people being afraid of snakes or the dark), but I was that person who made gay jokes without knowing how douchey I was being.

 

I remember when I was little not having a real opinion on LGBT. All I really knew was that a lot of people hated queer people or used "gay' as an insult, so I never brought it up. But I didn't think about it much, either. I didn't need to. I thought that any two people, regardless of sex, gender or anything else should be able to love each other. It's something I think about a lot now, after finding out that I was bisexual. My heart hurts a little whenever I hear someone say "That's so gay!" in my school. it's used as an insult everywhere. I have a lot of respect for other LGBT people because many of them have gone through a lot of bullying or hardship due to their sexual orientation or gender. I've been hurt too, of course, but many have gone through much worse than me.

 

My views never really changed as much as i just started to care more and got more educated. I'm a 90's kid so trans kids just weren't talked about when i was growing up. I wasn't exposed to it even like in the media or online until after i graduated highschool. But in regards to being gay, i mean the signs were all there from like age 11 it should have been so obvious and i noticed it i just wrote it off. When my mom and brother would talk all bigoted and judgemental about gay people, either around the dinner table or just one of them seeing someone they thought was flamboyant on tv...despite being raised to hate it, i just never could. I couldn't understand how something like that could be a choice. To voluntarily, willingly choose to date someone of the same sex over whoever they actually wanted to date just to rebel or get attention or defy god...it didn't make sense to me, it wasn't logical. That's too much pain to go through just for some superficial gain that could never outweigh the pain it would cause. I didn't even know i was gay back then but i had that much sense. I couldn't ever bring myself to judge them.

It wasn't until my early 20's that i started questioning and realized i was gay, at which point i got online and found this place. Learned some stuff. So really, like i said i've just found a reason to care and learned more. Youtube helped too, i watch Jeydon Wale and Chloe Arden who are both trans, and watching them has helped me learn about trans kids. My reaction to finding out Jeydon was FtM Trans when he came out in a video was kinda funny looking back on it. He'd always gone by a guy's name on youtube and presented as a guy and despite apparently not having been on T at the time, he passed just fine to me on video. I mean i just assumed he was younger than me, that's all. Then he made a coming out video and i was literally like "Oh. Okay. That's cool, but you're still a guy to me." in my head.

 

After 3(?) years on and off here, my perceptions have changed.

When I first joined, I just thought 'hey, these are some cool guys who are curious about themselves like me'.
After a while of lurking, I began to understand how hard it can be for some people to accept who they are, and how hard it is for others to grasp that as well.
Then, I wasn't on for about a year, because 1, I have shitty internet, and 2, my friend committed suicide over reasons related to this forum, and then it hit me how hard it actually is for people.
So I've learnt a lot from here about the lgbt community, for the good of myself and those who I know in real life, because I try and get my friends to try to be more respectful about topics mentioned here.

 

Every time I used to see a gay couple or trans person or anything of the sort, I always used to idolize them in a strange way and be almost jealous because I thought they were 'different' and 'stood out.' Then I realized I was bi. I really dont stand out I any ways and tbh I'm glad of it xD

 

To put it nice and short for once... Vastly improved intellectual capabilities and severing from childhood indoctrination tends to combine into reason. Being reasonable, you tend to not judge others unless they or their actions are harmful.

So in a sense, questioning local standards and development of the mind gave left me with no reason to. Then I learned I was in fact gay as well. I suppose that helped my disposition.

I wasn't the brightest as a child, but I try my best to make up for it now.
It stings when I see adults who act like I did in such a young age, their minds are trapped, and yet they never seek freedom. The US is sadly full of such imprisoned cerebrums. Eventually they'll learn the hard way, as I once did, that petty judgement gets us nowhere.

Despite this development, I still don't feel like I deserve to be forgiven for my vile behavior in the younger years. It just weighs so heavily on the conscience.

 

I've always had gay and/or bi friends and have always been OK with them. My mum was quite openminded then (and is even more openminded now) so my sister and I were raised with the thought that gay people were OK. The school was openminded too. It was the latin teacher who thaught us about bisexuality but later on we were thaught about the LGBT community in the religion class too. My first real boy crush was bi . It took me a year to get over him. The only thing I didn't realize for a long time is how difficult coming out can be and how much homophobia and biphobia there still is, even in a country like Belgium were LGBT people are well protected.

 

I was 8 when I saw my first gay person on a TV documentary about primary schools, and after a tough Christian/Eastern European upbringing, my first reaction was 'how can they let someone like that work with children?' Obviously since then I have discovered that I am gay myself and that gay people aren't any less normal than straight people.

Overall, I have developed a sense of compassion for the gay community, but still didn't understand the concept of LGBT+. Only after coming to this site I have gained a greater understanding of LGBT people, as well as my sexuality.

 

I wouldn't say I was super homophobic but I definitely wasn't very accepting either. I did used to use "gay" as a synonym for bad/lame/stupid which really bothers me now. I thought same-sex relationships were weird but I still felt a deep connection with the LGBT community. I didn't like it and that's where my ignorance came from. Oh yeah and I was pretty horrible about trans people. I did used to be transphobic.

 

My attitude has changed somewhat. In that I was comfortable reaching orgasm with men and women I was never anti gay. I do find people who throw their sexual identity in your face annoying and shallow. I respect whatever you want to be. I don't need to know if it is your time of the month, why would I need to know your identity. I do not understand the trans thing - I have seen some very good looking women with male equipment and breasts and find it erotic. I am evolving, I hope the LGBT community realizes the militancy is causing many people with no thoughts against them turned off

 

Before I even knew that I was bi, I did not have a problem with the LGBT community. I had friends and classmates that were gay, and I accepted it.

Was I as comfortable with it as I am now? No, but I was never like "eww, gay people".

I feel really bad admitting this, but at points, I was not nice, and in private conversations with non-LGBT people would refer to gay people as "thweet" in a fake high pitched lisp, with my hand wagging around when referring to their sexuality. I think this was because I wasn't as aware as I am now. This was as far as I'd go though, and never did anything worse. Once I got to high school, I dropped that habit.

I honestly had no idea about the transgender community and intersex/gender queer people until a few years ago when Chaz Bono transitioned.

From TV, I knew about cross dressers, particularly Charles Bing on Friends and Steve Carey on The Drew Carey Show.

As for bisexuality, we were watching a movie one time that had Andy Dick in it (Inspector Gadget, I think), and my father says to no one in particular "I think I heard he's bisexual" I asked what that was and he told me it meant he liked men and women. That was all I ever really heard on the subject until more recent years when LGBT issues were becoming more widely talked about.