I'm curious as to why some people realize they're gay in adolescence whereas other people take much longer? It seems like societal pressure to be straight plays a big role, but there are a lot of people on EC who have talked about being raised in very homophobic families and yet they still realized they were gay when they were relatively young. I just wonder why it is that some people come to the realization in that environment while other people are unable to acknowledge it.
Heteronormative culture. Subconscious fear and/or shame. I think heteronormativity plays a huge role.
I realized at a young age (11-12ish) but repressed hard due to societal pressure to be straight and knowing that it was "wrong". Even though I "knew" I refused to accept it for a long time and just hoped that I would develop feelings for women eventually. I basically repressed for 15 years before accepting myself and coming out.
I realized around age 15 that I was somewhere on the Kinsey scale other than 0, but denied and fought it for a long time because I was so worried about being ostracized and hated for it. It took another 10 years before I realized I couldn't fight it anymore, but still wasn't sure just where I fell on the spectrum. Once I quit fighting the fact that I was attracted to guys and just let myself feel attracted, well, the rest was history, and you can look at my orientation to see where I am now.
