How has being LGBT changed your opinions on life?

Yes, I do believe being gay has changed how I see things in life. I feel that I'm a lot more open, accepting, and understanding of many different types of people and situations. I'm not very judgmental and I typically go for less conventional things in life.

 

sure, i think that, but i also don't know how differently i'd think if i weren't who i am. i think that if i were straight i'd take more things for granted, i wouldn't understand firsthand that sexuality isn't a choice, i'd probably have had more body image issues because i'd have been too worried about boys liking me in school, and honestly i'd have been way more promiscuous. i'd probably have put myself in some pretty dangerous situations. i have thought about this before and i truly believe that being gay has saved my life.

 

I had weird childhood. I was raised in a progressive/liberal household, even though the religion I was raised in wasn't so progressive (Catholic). After studying it and the Bible I became sort of a Conservative and very religious. That means I opposed everything the Church did (abortion, homosexuality, masturbating etc.)


After, I found out I was bisexual, I returned to the Liberal beliefs (pro-choice, pro-gay etc.) my parents had. And my views on homosexuality definitely changed, because well I'm bi!

Also, my views on religion. I'm still Catholic, though I'm a bit of skeptic/questioner of my faith. Besides gaining a lot of Atheist friends in high school, I noticed most Atheists out there are the ones backing the gay community. So that changed my views on Atheists to way more positive ones.

 

Like Lance said, it has made me much more accepting of others. I think I have a caring heart for people coming to terms with their orientation because of the struggles I went through. I do feel like I know I've learned more than if I was straight.

 

Being queer has made me more empathetic, but it's also given me a warrior outlook.

 

I'm not sure being gay has changed my beliefs so much as it has helped to shape my beliefs. I am a very open-minded and accepting person as it is, but I think the fact that I'm gay makes me even more accepting and more defensive when it comes to all minorities/civil rights.

I'm glad. I myself am an Atheist, not because I've had a bad experience and lost my faith or anything like that but rather simply because I didn't grow up with religion. The lessons Christians learn from the stories of the Bible I learned directly from my parents. I have learned to structure my own belief system based on my experiences and morals.

I had long drawn out discussion with a girl in my Spanish class about faith. She asked me why I denied God and didn't let him into my heart. I basically told her that because I don't believe in God, I have no one to deny. I don't need to believe in a higher power to be a good person and make a positive impact on my community and world.

It's not that I think religion is a bad thing. On the contrary, I think aspects of religion have a lot of merit, but I believe religion causes a lot of problems, too. Religion can close people's minds to change if they let it. Religion can give people hope and inspiration to do marvelous things. Faith can make people to do a lot of really great things, but has the potential to cause problems as history shows us.

Anyway, the way I see it, as long as you keep an open mind and don't let others tell you exactly how to think you're on the road to success!

 

Coming to grips with my sexuality has removed a huge weight off my shoulders and cleared up so much confusion for me. It has liberated me.

 

Being different from most, loving someone who doesn't love you back, being in denial, being in the closet, feeling left out, and that feeling that most don't get you does make my mindset different than others for the most part.

I feel more compassionate for others being bullied, and being a minority you see others on television talking against or for gays makes it seem they are talking directly to me. It's like living for a better future but you live where it is just beginning. You are apart of something bigger than yourself but at the same time you are just a small ant against the weight of the world.

It's quite unique to me in sense because alot of people don't get to feel what LGBT get to feel. Good and bad.

I'm gay because I am lucky, I was MEANT to be gay, What's hard is the finding someone else, and being who you are against society.

 

In what seems to be the opposite from everyone else, being LGBT has turned me into a cynical, petty and jealous individual. I see straight couples in the street and i get jealous that they can just hold hands in the street, i start to think that i'll never be able to do that in my town without hate speech, i dont like children because i cant have them, etc. I wouldn't have these feelings if i was just born straight, i'd think of everything differently and in a more normal light.

 

If I hadn't been gay, I would have ended up a racist, homophobic idiot like my sister is. Being gay exposed me to things beyond "Mississippi and its values are the best. Catholicism is the only thing that exists" mentality in my family.

 

Like a lot of other people have said, being bi has made me more open to different people. I think a lot of that comes from other personal experiences of mine not related to my sexuality though too.
I tend to not judge people as harshly because I know that they may have something going on in their life that makes them act the way they do.
I still judge, everyone does, but I feel like I do less.

 

Mostly this for me too. Even as a little kid, long before I knew I was gay, sensitivity, tolerance and empathy were already natural characteristics of mine. After realising my sexuality those concepts became more relevant in everyday situations. But I'm sure that even if I had been born straight the same feelings and ideas would still make up a large part of who I am.

 

The LGBT community is the only thing keeping me alive right now. That and booze (which is not healthy).
Its the only thing helping me be me. i always have self defense mechinisms in place so its hard to be me with other people. But when IM in the community it relaxes me that other people are like me and we are here to be ourselves. The most understanding and accepting people are in the community trust me.

 

I agree being gay makes me a lot more open than most individuals, BUT the downside is that things are so much more difficult and I just wanna get on with my life!

 

Hard to say. It's just who I am. But I do feel it brings more open-mindedness. It also made me see how odd and complicated human beings are. And along with other things, it made me see that I'm just a person like everyone else: before realizing I wasn't straight, I always used to think no such thing as not being 'normal' could happen to me. I always thought, how could I be bi/gay? I'm me.

I used to be pretty self-centered. But that could also have had to do with age. Still I feel it has changed my view on the world and other people to be more, err, open, I guess.

 

Yes and no. It didn't really change my opinion. It feels more like it helped form me to be the person I am today. It let me see that kindness and unconditional love shouldn't be taken for granted. It taught me that nobody should be judged like a book by it's cover. Everyone is special in their own way. It showed me that being modest and kind brings you a long way and makes life easier in otherwise awfully depressing and mean circumstances.

It also drove me to make some decisions that I might have not made, had I been straight or hadn't known that I was gay up to that point. I guess that some I do regret and maybe would have made differently. But I try not to stop long enough to think about it.

Anyways, what I am trying to say is that I may have turned out to be a totally different person if I wasn't gay. Idk, maybe a cocky jock or somthing I hate cocky jocks.

 

Being bi-sexual has made me realize how unhappy I was when I was "straight". It has changed me in the respect that I can be more open with my feelings, there are always people who are in the same situation as you.

At the end of the day:
Love is love, whoever it is between.

 

That's exactly how I felt!

 

Finding out that I'm bisexual did change a bit of how I see life, and how I see myself. I found that I'm more stuffed with prejudices than I thought, less open minded that I thought I was. Why? Because of the shame I feel about liking guys too.
At least, knowing it is the first step to overcome it!

And well, being trans has me see how life is unfair. Nothing I didn't already know.