Hey everyone! I'm sure most of you don't remember me, as I was only here for a short while, but I still exist, I just sorta disappeared because of the rather overwhelming beginning-of-the-school-year things. But yeah. I'm here. Hangin' in there. It's nice to be back. And so boy do I have questions! First off, a question about my relationship with my parents. I'm rather sure I'm gay at this point, and I've told several close friends and will tell most people if they bother to ask (which they often don't). My problem is, my father saw some Instagram notifications on my phone (a few of my friends have usernames in which the words 'gay' or LGBT' are mentioned). What he proceeded to do was shocking, coming from my generally left-leaning father. He asked, "Why are you following these accounts? Are you gay?" I panicked, and told him I wasn't. He asked why I was following the accounts again. I said, "Some of my friends are gay, it's no big deal." This happened a few weeks ago, and so I'm not sure how it got to this point, but my father eventually said that my friends weren't old enough to know whether or not they were gay. My mother echoed the same sentiments later in the day, presumably after my father talked to her about it. So, my question is: Do I come out? I want to, I really do. But on the other hand, it doesn't seem like they'll react very well. My second question is rather different. How do I find other people with experiences and views similar to my own? My social life isn't the greatest, and I'm not quite content with my friends, but I'm not sure how to find less scummy people to spend my time with. I'm obviously greatly limited by the fact that I can't drive, but does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can find new (and better) friends? It's also worth noting that I got to a Catholic school, so a GSA is out of the question. Thanks in advance, everyone!
The first rule of coming out is safety. If you think you will get kicked out, abused or your life will be in danger then you DO NOT have to come out at all. It is more than okay to stay in the closet and prepare for a time that you can come out. Yes, it sucks and it isn't fair, but its also a reality. Its really hard to meet LGBT at your age. Specially if you are in the closet and you don't have a car. Long term plan, your focus should be to save money to buy a crappy car. Do you have a job? Would your parents allow you to have one? If they do, go ahead and see if you can get a job and start saving. Learn how to manage your finances and take it from there. Meanwhile, online is probably the best place to meet people. EC is good example, tumblr, or any other forum type place. Hang in there though. I promise you that the world will open up sooner than you think.
