Were you ever publicly homophobic before coming out?

Back when I was religious yes, I made a lot of bad choices back then and not a day goes by without me wishing I could apologize for all the things I said.

I hurt so many people because I thought I was justified, just thinking about it brings tears sometimes. Thankfully it was only words at least...

 

OMFG, yes . Until recently did I actually like just come to terms with the fact that you can't change who you are. I'm still in the process of accepting it, but I'm glad it's getting better. Also note i was pretty much homophobic because of my religion (no shade) and my grandmother who taught Catechism.

 

No, I don't think I was ever homophobic, but I was indifferent to it before I could understand the feelings I was having. I think I just used to dismiss and bury my feelings a lot. I remember feeling scared a lot though. I was always afraid that people would find out I was gay, like it was some dark hidden thing that I couldn't share. So I just tried to ignore it and distance myself from it. Now I'm the opposite though haha.

 

I was a shithead. Not about homophobia, and not in terms of lobbing disparaging remarks or disrespect, but when my girlfriend told me ~5 years ago that she was wondering if she might be trans, I flipped out. I cried, I made it about me, I was totally inflexible and totally dismissive of her feelings because I did. not. want. to. change. my. own. identity. and in my dumb little mentally ill teenage brain, that was what was going to happen if my lesbian girlfriend was no longer a girl. I told her I'd leave her if she ever stopped using she pronouns, I was such an asshole.

Now it's been a long time since then, and well, things have changed. A lot. A whole lot. We're still together, but the relationship is a lot better. It ended up that we're both trans, and both nonbinary. I've been wondering if the reason I flipped out so bad was because I knew I was the same gender as my girlfriend, and if that wasn't pure "girl" then I'd have to figure out what I was, then deal with all the terrible things I'd heard growing up about the ways trans people were treated, and how hard their lives were. To some degree, I do. But, I'm stronger now, and healthier now, and now I can take it without losing my shit the same way.

 

I'm not sure if it counts as homophobic but I did used to think that being gay was a choice, but that didn't last long, and looking back at my own exhibiting of sexual behavior to guys around that same time, I don't know what I was thinking.

 

Not publicly, but I kept it to myself. I tried to do the "I love gay people but don't support their choices" thing, which didn't work at all. It was actually only a few years ago that I completely decided I was pro-LGBT, and not long after that I came to terms with my identity.

After a while, the more I actually knew about gay and transgender issues, the more I understood how much harm had come from my way of thinking. That, and the evangelical leaders I had been taught to respect began to look really bad when I actually paid attention to what they were saying.

Even if I never talked about it, I absolutely regret it all. I was hurting because I didn't understand myself. I'm still healing from those years, but I've come a long way.

 

I was never homophobic but I became oddly quiet and distant when homophobes around me began talking crap about the LGBT community. I wish I had the courage back then to say something, even if I wasn't out yet.

From what I've seen, heard, and read....some of the most volatile bigots and homophobes have something going on within them that they're so desperately trying to deny and cover up.

 

I think the worst I got was saying, "don't hate the sinner, hate the sin," but I was basically like, "whatever makes you happy and doesn't hurt yourself or others is chill by me" XD;;; I was the rebel at my private school, even for having such a milquetoast answer XD;;;

 

I don't think I was ever homophobic. Even as a young kid I'ld wonder why my religious family thought it was "bad". Finally, they convinced me it was gross, which I went along with as a young kid because, back then, all kissing was gross! But I never made comments about it to anyone. When I got a little older, I was too ignorant on the matter due to my religious upbringing, and didn't want to judge what I didn't understand.

 

I don't think I was ever homophobic. Even as a young kid I'ld wonder why my religious family thought it was "bad". Finally, they convinced me it was gross, which I went along with as a young kid because, back then, all kissing was gross! But I never made comments about it to anyone. When I got a little older, I was too ignorant on the matter due to my religious upbringing, and didn't want to judge what I didn't understand.

 

Yes and no.

No, because I didn't go out of my way to disparage gay people ever.
Yes, because I live in a homophobic country and me not saying something against gay people if the topic comes up would be challenged and I don't want people to know the truth

 

Yes, I was homophobic due to being raised that way, but I never bullied anyone in a homophobic way. It was subconsciously a way to overcompensate.

 

Yea. Secretly made fun of trans people behind their backs and used "that's so gay" or such all the time.

 

Yes. the classic homophobic story I guess... I was on the football team we teased 'the gay guy' and one day we were all giving him 'wedgies' - lifting him up by the back of his underwear - this was done a lot in my high school as a fun way of teasing "wedgie wars' and we didn't pick on him exclusively - but I still remember when i got the chance to wedgie him, I didn't think anything about it and frankly he laughed and said 'you got me' (it was a stupid high school game) .. but then, that night i was trying to masturbate and was thinking of all the hot cheerleaders... then... I just thought about that ass in those blue shorts (I can still see that ass today) I came almost immediately .

 

When I was in 8th grade, I was still trying to figure out who I was. One of my close friends came out to me as bi and I was like "ew." Now that I remember this, I feel horrible for saying such things! I was uneducated and influenced by what others said about the lgbtq+ community. One day in class, some people were making fun of gay people so I stood up and told them that there is nothing wrong with being gay. That day I've realised how abd homophobia is.

 

Nope, I was always a huge ally. Never imagined early on that some day it would affect me personally. Funny how life goes...

 

When I had a different understanding of bisexual people, I told my girlfriend that I thought bisexual people were "desperate" now that I'm more intelligent I feel really bad about it.

 

No, not at all. I always wanted people to know I was gay; I didn't try to hide it like that.

I wasn't having any trouble accepting myself, either.

 

Not really, but I did make fun of them with my friends and what not just to try to "fit in". The teenage years...