what was the "moment" you realized your sexual orientation?

I didn't really have a "moment" or specific event that made me figure it out. It just sort of sprang out of nowhere, but it made so much sense, especially looking back at thoughts and moments throughout my childhood.

 

I’d been in denial for years. It’s not like I didn’t know but I’d just never admitted it to myself until I started watching the amazing Norwegian show Skam.

I started watching it just because I knew it had a gay storyline which already says a lot. Even though I’m a girl and the story is about a guy accepting his sexuality and his situation was nothing like mine, I really saw myself in this character. I became obsessed with the show and especially the gay couple and when I finished it I went looking for more lgbtq+ media.

I stumbled upon Ellen Page’s documentary show Gaycation about lgbtq+ rights around the world and that’s when it hit me! When I saw people in the most difficult situations and countries where you risk your life every day for being gay stand up for who they are, I suddenly knew I had to do that too.

It hit me like a slap in the face that I was into girls and I’d had known that all along. It took me a lot more time to figure out exactly what that meant in terms of labels but that was the turning point for me.

 

I still have no idea how , when or why did i admitted to myself that i'm gay recently . Not comfortable with it yet but can't deny it any more.

 

There were many moments, but the last possible moment was my freshman year of college....the first time I had sex with another guy.

 

its still definitely a process for me, im still struggling with my orientation even after many years--but i noticed i wasnt straight when i was a kid (had multiple shut downs since i was raised roman catholic and have a homophobic mom) and then realized it again at 16 when i had my first Real crush on a girl.

 

When I was 4, I realized that I loved girls. Took me another 20 years to realize that I was one though. Still love 'em, some things never change.

Mandy

 

for reference, i am bisexual.

 

For me, I decided during meditation to tell myself I'm gay. I had tried it before in front of mirrors but it left me feeling sad. This time it just clicked and from that moment my doubt left me. There are times I wish I was straight, but these thoughts no longer trick me into trying to be straight.

 

For me the first time I was intimate with another man I knew this is what I wanted. I had been somewhat unsure to that point. The intensity of the sensuality blew my mind. Being with a man seemed so natural, so right . I’m pretty sure I lost all interest in women that night.I started the process of coming out shortly after and never looked back.

 

Didnt happen all at once because my own acceptance went back and forth over the years.

-I remember being 7, maybe 8, and hearing what the word bisexual meant and I just knew it applied to me. I dont know why, dont really remember having same sex crushes at the time, I just knew i was.
-years of repression later, i suppose it bubbled to the surface again when i saw other boys changing in highschool gym class
-actually having sex with another guy basically sealed all questioning and doubt in that regard. I remember actually being shocked at how much I liked it, felt totally natural and all my little rationalizations fell away [i just have a porn fetish, or whatever]

 

I was able to take a few glances at some centerfolds and they got me riled up some. It was only certain types in these centerfolds and not every centerfold I saw did it for me. There were other things that told me I was off the endpoints of the scale, but this might have been the most telling clue that I can think of right now.

 

I can't exactly remember but I was under 10 and somehow knew I wasn't straight and it terrified me, I was born in 1975, I knew it was a bad thing as a child to be not straight....scary....

 

I was hanging out with a lesbian friend and started thinking about how I wanted her to find me attractive. We got to be closer friends and I loved the thrill of flirting with her and realized I wanted very much to kiss her. I continued to doubt myself until the night I kissed her and then had sex with her and discovered that I am definitely not straight.

 

It happened in high school. While all the other guys spoke about girls, I found myself thinking our head prefect (um... hard to explain prefect ...lol) was rather cute. I was scared etc... didn't know what the heck to do. So I bottled it all up till at the age of 25, admitted to myself I was most likely not straight.

 

It can take along time for people to become comfortable with their sexuality. It's a journey, you will get there. I just got to a point and thought I have to come out. I left my wife this year and I get awkward questions from people, I just say I'm not straight. They are either ok with it or they are not.....it would have terrified me in the past but not now....

 

I think I realized it for the first time when I was 12. It just hit me one day, this realization that I like guys. I was absolutely terrified and spent the next few years trying to deny it, and then suffering through the consequences of being taught to hate myself for being gay. Now things are much better. I just wish it would have been easier.

 

Always had an inkling that I wasn't completely straight beginning as a teen. Had a strong interest in females and great sex along the way, but also found myself sneaking peeks at guys at the gym or pool, secretly looking at gay magazines/internet and fantasizing about encounters. Slowly evolved, and after having my first "real" m2m encounter, I was able to admit to myself, at least, that I'm bi. As time goes on, find myself even more strongly attracted to men, however. Like an earlier poster said - it's been more of a process than anything.

 

Well, I think that part of me already knew it was a possibility. But I've denied, in the beginning because of my isolated bubble made up by my parents and by religion, then, when I finally stood up out its bubble, I have still denied for many years (mostly because of ignorance of sexuality itself). Then one day in college, I've fell in love with a guy and from there I've started to learn accept the fact that like boys.