Help

I know how you feel, and it's scary sometimes. I suggest you "lean" in little by little. Ask questions like, "What do you think of homosexuals?" and "If someone in our family was gay would you mind?" Find nonchalant ways of bringing that up. Things about gay people are on the news all the time, so I suggest you ask your family around that time.

I wish you the best of luck, and I hope you found my advice useful. ^__^'

 

You WILL be happy when you go to college, and come out to your new friends with your true identity. You will still see plenty of straight people, but you will also find a group of new friends who are gay like you, and new straight friends who are perfectly of accepting you as their new friend who happens to be gay. Most gay people go through a phase of denial and anger about being gay, until they realize that there is nothing wrong with being gay, and that there are more gay people out there than red-heads, so they have a better chance of meeting someone else who is gay and understands them than a ginger. Look at yourself in the mirror and repeat "I am gay, and it is OK" over and over again until it sinks in that you are, and it is.

 

For many people, the closet is a scary and lonely place to be. That feeling of being trapped is one that so many of us experience and it can be hard to bear. At the same time, the idea of coming out or being exposed before we are ready to come out brings its own fears. Can you tell us more about your personal fears?

Is there anything in particular that gives you the impression of being perceived as fake? Is it connected to your sexuality, or is it something else? Maybe you can explain.

Living with people who are very religious can be quite stifling, particularly if they follow every letter of the religion in question. On a positive note, you are preparing to go to college and that should bring a degree of freedom and opportunity to make new friends -- possibly gay friends who can relate. How do you feel about that idea?

When you are in a very low and dark place it is difficult to see any hope or light, so your outlook can become even more negative, but you have done something positive in reaching out and sharing your feelings here and I hope you will consider the questions I have asked and maybe say some more. If you would prefer to chat privately, you are most welcome to click on my profile and send me a private message.

When I was your age, I had many of the same feelings and I never imagined life would be better. Twenty years later, I am out, proud (in my own way) and married... to another man, of course.

 

Please try not to be so depressed, I'm sure it's so tough being there with such a religious family which I bet is making things even harder to accept yourself as being gay and being Ok with it. I truly think going away to college will open up a whole new world to you where you can feel safe and free. I wish I could have admitted to myself at your age that I had gay feelings so that I could have felt free to feel like my true self. We all wish you the best and feel free to talk on my wall if you need to. Good luck and try to be strong!!