I’d like to talk about a different “coming out” experience.
I grew up in a gay-friendly household. My uncle is gay, two of my mother’s cousins are lesbian, my grandmother is active in PFLAG [Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays] – you get the picture.
When I came home from a singing camp in England in love with an English girl, I knew I had to tell my parents. Never one to talk to my parents about crushes, I decided that 17 was about time to start.
But I was worried.
Not about my parents being upset or angry, but because I felt like they would be far more comfortable with the idea than I was myself. This was a significant change to my self-image, and I needed some time to test things out before the rest of the world (in other words the rest of my family) had that image of me in their heads.
I did it in the car on the way back from the airport, before I could chicken out. I think I said, with no preamble, “I think I might be bi.” After about 30 seconds my mom turned around and said “Well, you can’t just leave us hanging at that!” I explained… and told my parents that I wasn’t really very sure of myself so to please not tell anyone else.
As time went on I became more comfortable with discussing my ideas about sexuality. To me, the most exciting part is having friends come out to me, whether they are confident or just experimenting with the idea as I was.
Sexual orientation is a difficult thing to pin down. For myself, I don’t like the labels. Though I have mostly been interested in men, I do not like to think of myself as straight. I don’t like to think that I’m bi either. When push comes to shove, I say that I am straight with an open mind, or more often that I basically like men but occasionally a woman will come along who makes me sit up and take notice. Really, I just like to fall in love with whoever I want to without worrying about how that affects or reflects my “sexual orientation”. I just love people.
~ Student ‘05
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