Since June is Pride Month for the LGBTQ, I thought I would make a related post in honor of the month coming to an end. For those who don’t know, Pride Month is a time for people from the LGBTQ+ community to celebrate and express their inner rainbow. Often there are pride parades, and parties to celebrate, and bring attention to this community.
This year, Pride Month felt a little bit more meaningful to me, because in this past year, I have finally been able to accept myself, and sincerely express who I am. It has been hard for me to become comfortable with who I am and truly accept the fact that I am bisexual, meaning that I am attracted to both guys and girls.
When I first told this to my friends, the most common question I got was, “How did you know?” Well, my answer is that I always knew, I just didn’t realize that it was something different. Once I realized that it was different to feel this way, I still didn’t have a name for the way I felt. I knew that saying “Gay” was wrong, because yes, I was attracted to girls, but I was also attracted to guys as well.
I finally had a name for it when one of my friends came out to me as bisexual, and I didn’t understand what that meant. When I found out what “bisexual” was, I felt something click, and a little voice in my head said, “Hey that's me!”
After that though, I still had trouble coming to terms with the fact that I was “different,” and that people might consider the way I felt was wrong. These thoughts scared me, because I always had trouble finding friends, and I was already such an outsider, so the last thing I needed was something else to make me different.
But, as the years went by, I began to feel more accepted, and I realized that it was time for me to stop hiding who I was. So, in April, I finally gained the courage to tell my friends.
Although, I soon began to realize that coming out, is not as easy as I thought it was. I started thinking that nobody needed to know, and I started backing out of the idea of coming out. But, I realized that hiding forever was not a very good solution. So I mustered up all the courage I could and decided to come out to my friends first. Everyone I told was so accepting, and encouraging, and made me feel so welcome.
Now, thanks to all my friends and family, I finally feel comfortable expressing my true self, and I am able to proudly say that I am bisexual. In the future, I hope I can gain more confidence in myself, and become self-confident in who I am.
-Angelina