Since it's Pride Month, I figured I'd share my journey in finding my identity within the lgbtq+ community! (It's a long one)
I am a proud Bi-romantic, Asexual, Demi-girl! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
CW: Religious upbringing, homophobia, transphobia, thoughts of SA (I'll tag that when we get there)
I was raised Christian, though looking back, I never did experience any connection to the Lord that my parents and pastors talked about.
I was taught and understood the basics; love thy neighbor, treat others the way you want to be treated, God loves you no matter what, etc.
So when one of my friends came out in middle school as Bisexual, and that she had a girlfriend, I obviously had no clue what that meant.
She explained it meant that she liked boys AND girls, I had no clue that was an option, but it made sense to me!
I didn't think to tell my parents because it sounded harmless! Countless kids in school had boyfriends/girlfriends, what difference did it make if they were both girls?
One day we were texting when my mom asked me what were talking about, so I told her my friend's girlfriend said something funny!
She asked which friend, and asked if I meant boyfriend.
She said "You know God doesn't like that, right?"
Why wouldn't God like that?
I thought God loved everyone?
She tried to explain the whole "unnatural-ness" of it, how guys could only like girls and vice-versa.
But I still didn't get it.
Why would my friend, another Christian raised girl, who loved and lived as I did, go to hell because she also liked girls.
It was pretty downhill for my relationship with the church from there.
I never really befriend any of the girls in my life group, and I only really liked going to youth nights when my other friend could join (not the one who came out, at least not yet).
Funnily enough, I only realized I no longer considered myself Christian until AFTER I got baptized lol.
Before that though, I learned about being bi, being gay, the lgbt+ community, all I could! I was an ally to my friend, as were our other friends!
Then I found out what being Asexual was.
Feeling little to no sexual attraction, at least the most basic definition of it.
It weirdly resonated with me.
Growing up, I was told I would find a boyfriend, who would become my husband, and we would have kids together, and while I thought that was it, I realized that I never truly saw myself in it.
I was always told I would have kids one day, and I said "okay", because I thought that was a part of life, that I WOULD have kids, it was treated as an inevitable part of my life once I became an adult.
I created my dream man like the other girls, but he slowly faded as I grew up.
I was more focused on school than dating, that could wait till I graduate!
I can't remember if it was middle school or high school, but I realized one day that I didn't WANT kids. I would babysit, I would nanny, I would smile and play with them, but taking care of them? Raising them? Birthing them?
CW: Thoughts of SA and rape
I was always a day dreamer, but I started to "fantasize" about being an adult, and my first ever boyfriend being a total asshole, who would force himself on me, who would treat me like shit, so when we broke up, I would have an excuse not to want sex anymore!
Because who in their right mind would ask a traumatized victim to have sex again?!
Regular people don't fantasize about that.
Normal people don't (shouldn't) need an excuse not to have sex.
So when I found that label, I felt happy!
I had no trouble seeing people as attractive or cute or whatever, but it stopped there, and I found out there were other people who felt the way I did!
I happily told my friends, who had all but come out themselves at that point, and they were super supportive!
So I was a Hetero-romantic, Asexual girl!
My friends were all Bi at that point, and I even talked about how I wouldn't mind experimenting with dating girls! But if it didn't work out, then alright! I'd just be straight! No harm in exploring what does and doesn't fit! They all agreed.
I kept this line of thinking all the way to my Junior year of high school.
It was our first year back after cov!d hit, so were were all masked up, chairs spaced apart, the works.
They had "expanded" the cafeteria, since kids couldn't sit side by side, they put some extra tables on the 2nd floor.
They also allowed us to sit on the floor upstairs, so I sat alone pretty often on days my friends didn't have the same lunch period.
One day, a girl sat on the floor across from me. I didn't think much of it, but I kept feeling and seeing her glance at me while we ate.
I was starting to feel a bit nervous, but lunch was called soon, and asked I stood to put all my things together, she handed me a note (I had seen her writing in a journal, and we'd made awkward eye contact a few times)
It said "Hey! I just wanted to say that you're so gorgeous! 😍
Here's my number if you wanna talk! My name's [BLANK] by the way!"
Read the note, looked at her, back at the note, back to her, then I practically fucking RAN to my next class!
Texted my friends "GUESS WHO MIGHT BE OFFICIALLY BI!!!"
I had Bi-Panic as my realization—
Guys she was cute you don't understand I wasn't medicated yet and a fucking mess—
It didn't last long, but I still remember all of it.
She wasn't the first person to ask me out, I'd turned down a few guy friends before, but she was the first GIRL.
I was a Bi-romantic, Asexual girl!
Fast forwarding a bit, my orientation and identity hadn't changed for years. I kept learning more about the community I found myself in and loving it more and more!
I had moved to college for my first semester, truly living away from home for the first time.
Living in a dorm with a gay ass roommate who used all pronouns and and would return at random hours while I would be doing online course work and say "good morning" everytime no matter the time.
It was great! (We still occasionally check on each other lol)
I was reading a Sun & Moon x Reader fic on the wonderful Ao3, where the reader insert happened to me amab! I didn't read those often, but the story looked interesting, and I always insert an oc anyway, so I just did that.
The lore was building, the romance was adorable, the sex was amazing~, an overall good time!
It was while I was reading one of the chapters that one of the pet names hit me differently.
It wasn't a new one, they had been calling the reader "sweet boy" a bunch, as well as other (masc) pet names.
But for some reason, it started to affect ME.
Sure I'd always feel giddy over "good girl", "pretty girl", and other feminine pet names used in fics, but I'd never felt anything for the masculine versions, till now at least.
Before then, I'd always been she/her. I was a girl, obviously I'd use that. But I had no problem being addressed as they/them either! It was gender neutral, why would I have a problem with it?
Though looking back, I did feel a strange euphoria when being referred to as they or them by strangers.
I was so confused and actually pretty frustrated! My whole life till this point, I was happy that I avoided having a gender crisis, cause I would see people go through it, and it just looked so exhausting and I felt bad for the people who felt at war with themselves!
So I did the only logical thing, I went to Twitter and asked some moots to call me "sweet boy" to see how it felt!
When I tell you I fucking MELTED being called that?? And experimenting with other masc pet names??
My gender crisis got solved pretty quickly lol (thank god).
Just, of all things, it had to be a fucking fanfiction that put me through it—
So yeah! Now I happily call myself a Bi-romantic, Asexual, Demi-girl!
I love men, women, everything in between!
I want romance, I want to kiss and cuddle and love!
I'm a strange creature using she/they pronouns, that's half girl-ish, half otherworldly being that likes the occasional masculine pet name!
Now if we wanna get into the nitty gritty of my identity, I do technically have a more precise label for my asexuality—
Aegosexual: "people who experience a disconnect between themselves and the subject of arousal. They can experience sexual fantasies, enjoy sexual content, or masturbate, but they generally feel little to no sexual attraction and typically do not desire to have sex with another individual"
I love my smut fiction and sexy art~! I love teasing and being teased by online friends for wanting to smash and be smashed by fictional characters!
But sex with someone irl? Keep it away from me—
My hands work just fine thank you—
While that label describes me perfectly, I don't feel as strong of a connection to it as simply calling myself Asexual. So that's what I do! I know I'm Aegosexual, but if anyone ask, I'm Ace 😊
That's just what I prefer to say!
Now my demigender is like the opposite.
Being Demigender falls under the Trans umbrella, since I don't completely identify with my assigned sex!
Now, I don't outright call myself trans when asked by others in the community, and it's not because I'm uncomfortable with the label or have any negative feelings towards it.
I simply feel like, since I still feel a partial connection to being afab, it can be confusing since so many people attribute the trans label to completely transitioning from the "opposite" sex.
And calling myself trans by itself doesn't feel like it paints the whole picture for me.
Saying demi-girl, and explaining how it works for me, just feels more inline with how I feel!
Now I don't believe everyone will have read or understand all of what I said, even I sometimes have a hard time trying to put my thoughts into words lol.
(Go get a drink, this was a ride to get through)
I simply wanted to share my journey, and thank everyone who has been with me during it the past couple years.
I love all my fellow queers, and I hope everyone has a wonderful Pride Month!