I had a friend of mine who is a lesbian write in as a guest blogger... here is what she had to say :) 

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When a person asks me, “how long have you known that you were gay?” I have trouble answering that question. A common misconception about LGBT people is that that we have always known and accepted the fact that we were gay, bisexual, transgender, whatever. For me, at least, there was no defining moment when I realized that I was gay- it was more a slowly building realization and acceptance of myself to the point where I felt comfortable with letting other people in on this aspect of my life.

When I was in elementary school, I hardly even knew what the word “lesbian” meant. As far as I was concerned, girls ended up with boys and vice-versa. Still, I was painfully aware of the lack of interest that I had in boys. All of my friends would go on about boys as we got older and entered middle school. I wondered if there was something wrong with me. It was around that time that I began to feel very close to certain females in my life- in my mind these were nothing more than friendships, but subconsciously I wanted them to be more than friendships.

When I got to high school, I knew by this time that there was something different about me and I had begun to question my sexuality. It was as if I had been told that I had a terminal illness- I was in shock and did not believe that it could happen to me. So I chose to ignore the growing “problem” of my sexuality. I pretended to be interested in boys and at times was almost able to convince myself that I was. But in the end, my attraction to girls was something that I could no longer ignore. It had been causing me massive amounts of stress and my family and friends had begun to notice that there was something wrong with me. I spent about of year coming out to myself and accepting the fact that I was gay, and eventually started coming out to my friends and family. Their reactions were much better than I had even anticipated.

The point that I want to get across is, if you identify with being LGBTQ but are afraid to come out, the reactions that you get will most likely be much better than you anticipate. Because you feel alone and hopeless now doesn’t mean that you always will. It’s been a year since I started coming out, and it’s amazing how things have changed. All my friends and family accept me completely, and I met a ton of other gay/bisexual people (there are a lot more than you think)! My first dating experience with a girl was both amazing and a learning experience. My life is so much better than it was a year ago, and in my opinions, coming out (as long as you are in a safe environment) is worth it one hundred percent.

Love,

Christine.

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