How/when did you come to terms with being LGBTQ etc.

When i was 12-13 and fell in love with my close friend.. (it was She and i thought something was going wrong...)

 

I think it has been something that has been in my subconscious for a long long time, since at least my teens, however it was always suppressed till I met my ex girlfriend online. That was two years and 8 mths ago now. Even after falling for her, I wasn't sure if it was just her or I was attracted to other girls.. When she broke up with me, it got me to begin thinking about it more thoroughly and my journey then began.

It has been two years almost since she broke up with me, however I think it was when I had a dream that I introduced my girlfriend to my parents and had another dream that I told my sister and she was fine with it too in the dream that I started to become okay with it.. It took a further two and a bit years though for me to fully come to terms with it though.

 

Sexuality:
Only very recently, within the last 2-3 weeks, I stopped stressing out about being queer, called down and now it's just a part of me and I don't feel like I have to prove it.

Gender:
Working on it.

 

I was an "ally" for a couple years when I was first learning about what it means to be LGBTQ. I ended up doing a lot of research on my own while still thinking I was straight. I started questioning myself around the age of 13, and I remember sitting in the car with my mum and my grandma and just staring out the window, thinking, and maybe I've changed this memory, but I just had sort of an epiphany, like "hey, I think I'm into girls". I went through a long list of identities for a while, notably pansexual, but now I'm quite settled on the label of "lesbian with pan aesthetic attraction". Now that I have my first girlfriend I think the first time she held my hand was when everything just fell into place and I knew for sure that this was right.

 

Very recently (I'm talking a couple months ago). I've had my "suspicions" that I was a lesbian since age 8-9 when i started having crushes and it was always girls, never guys. But the fact that I know pretty much nobody in the LGBT community, the fact that my mom is a churchgoing Catholic and just my own insecurities put me in fierce denial for a long long time. I had convinced myself that I was just "confused" to the point that I had a few short term boyfriends in high school (not that we did anything past first base). I still feel guilty about that, it feels like I was just using them to convince myself I was straight.. Anyway I'm glad I've finally accepted myself (and my mom did too!). Coming out of the closet is seriously mentally liberating

 

I grew up in a very conservative religion (actually classified as a cult in some circles) and was kept isolated from a young age. I was always attracted to girls, but had no idea I was gay. The church and my parents taught me that gay people did terrible, awful things to people and were pure evil (honestly, that church is so messed up). Since I didn't do terrible things I figured I couldn't possibly be gay. Yeah, it was a messed up time in my life. Luckily, I made a friend who got me out of that toxic household and helped me figure out how to accept my sexuality. I got into therapy and am now doing a million times better.

 

Always kind of knew. At around age 12-13 i started noticing it more, the fact that boys made me nervous (more so than girls) and my heart was always beating faster when i saw someone i liked and would have wanted to be friends with.

Realistically, came to accept myself only after i actually found time "put" my own life/happiness on the top of my priorities "list". That was around age 22 or something like that. Truly decided to embrace "life" only two years ago.

 

Gender: 14
Sexuality: 15
I identified as asexual for a long time, and it was hard letting go of that, but I was really just using it as a safe label where I could hide from my problems, and not face my gender issues. Once I started questioning my gender, it all made sense, and later I realized I was gay

 

It was around 14 for me too. I first started realizing it around age 11, but didn't accept it then. Just told myself "I'll like girls eventually, it just hasn't started yet". But as I grew up, I started finding more and more guys at my school attractive and cute and I realized it was never going to change. At age 14, I thought "I could kill myself and quit while I'm ahead" (I was not depressed, but these were actual thoughts I had at the time) or "I can accept this and try to make the best of it." Thankfully I chose the latter option.

 

I was lucky enough to grow up in very accepting communities. Of course, I didn't always know I was gay -- I just knew that I wasn't into guys. When other kids started dating each other, I mostly just shrugged. I had never thought about sexuality much, and I had never thought about who I was attracted to. In fact, I didn't become a big deal until we moved to Georgia and suddenly everyone always seemed to be way too concerned about homosexuals.

I didn't self-label myself as homosexual until about sophomore year of high school. I looked at myself in the mirror and was all like, "[Weekender], you're gay." It didn't really do much for me. My internal response was somewhere along the lines of "Yeah, so what?"

I think I had always known I was gay, and I had always been fine with it. There was never a moment where I asked God "why me" or anything, and my parents had never expressed overly negative feelings towards the LGBT community. I only started questioning my security about it once I was exposed to the hatred. I was perfectly okay with it before that.

 

I was in my twenties and I had to accept it eventually because I couldn't stop thinking about women. Internet helped a lot, reading various articles on the subject, forums, watching lgbt films. It definitely made me feel better about everything. I wasn't homophobic when I started questioning my sexuality and I was ok with other people being gay, but as far as being gay myself it freaked me out. I got used to the idea though and falling in love with a woman took away any doubts that I had about my orientation. Sometimes I wish it didn't take me so long to realize it.

 

Probably when I was 18 or 19. I was so slow.

 

I came to terms with it at 16 though looking back if it hadn't been for growing up in a religious southern household I wonder if I would have ever struggled with it at all.

 

I just hide

 

Honestly, around 32. I didn't really address it much until I separated from my wife, although in reflection I could see the behaviour,me motion and inclination had been there all along. It took a fair while to actually come to terms with it, but I'm glad I faced it as I now live everyday of my life without pretending and expressing who I really am.

Happy days

 

It was a little upsetting at first when I realized it, but after looking into it I found out there wasn't much I could do about it, nor is there any reason I should try to change myself if it were possible. I don't think I could ever really hate a part of myself unless I became some sort of evil killer.

 

When I was 13 I questioned my sexuality because I noticed my friends crushing on guys and I was like that's not for me lol. But it wasn't until my current girlfriend that I became comfortable defining myself as a lesbian. Everything just feels right and makes sense.

 

I questioned my sexuality at 8 years old an onward for most of my life , and I did not know there were women like me who were only attracted to other women .
I came to terms that I liked women I think around 22 to 23 , but I was still in denial about being lesbian . I always thought I would meet some guy that would change my sexuality ,; I would maybe end up liking both men ,and women because it's better than being just gay and having your family hate you . So I used the label bisexual because I was in denial and hoping maybe I could like a guy once in my life . Then at age 25 I came to terms that I 'm lesbian and not attracted to guys . So for me it was age 25 .