Sorry to ask and it's totally okay if you don't feel like answering, but why haven't you coming out yet? Are the people around you unsafe to come out to?
I left this ask in my ask box for a very long time because I didnât know how to answer it until now. Iâve really been struggling trying to figure out why I havenât been able to come out. The answer is definitely multi-faceted.
I always thought that the reason I was waiting to come out was because I had nothing to âcome outâ about. 1) I had never actually dated or been with someone of the same sex, so how would I know if I was actually not straight? What if I just think I like women but actually donât once I experience what itâs actually like? (Spoiler alert past me: Youâre definitely not straightâŠ). And 2) I didnât even know what I self identified as - itâs hard to come out when you donât know what the heck to come out as.
Cut to today where I know for a fact that I am so not straight and Iâve finally found a label/identity that feels comfortable and true for me (bisexual), and I still havenât found the courage to come out. After a lot of thought (and therapy - side note: therapy is the shit yo), Iâve come to realize that the reason I havenât come out yet is because I havenât really accepted the fact that Iâm not straight. A very small part of me is still actively trying to fight it. Internalized homophobia is rough man.
I spent a very long time denying the fact that I wasnât straight and itâs only in the past few years that Iâve actually admitted I need to start accepting it. But it is so fucking hard to accept. Acceptance is something Iâve been struggling with for a while. What will my family and friends say? Will their opinion of me change? How hard is my life going to be if I have to constantly fight battles for rights and continuously re-out myself not knowing how people will take it? I am very reluctant to shed my straight-passing privilege. And then thereâs the religious aspect. I was raised Catholic and we all know how they feel about the gaysâŠI donât identify as religious, but itâs hard to un-train years of thinking a certain way. Itâs been a constant struggle for me to be comfortable with myself and to accept myself. Itâs something Iâm working on currently and hopefully I will figure my shit out soon because it đđŒis đđŒfuckingđđŒexhausting!!!!! The closet is getting pretty stuffy and claustrophobic. I am ready to be frrrrrrreeeeeeeeee.