Good evening everyone, I've known that I'm gay for quite a while now, but somehow I don't feel comfortable with saying it out loud, even if it's just to myself (it's a kind of guilty feeling towards others, but mostly myself I guess). I'm sure many others have had this, but how long did this last, and what made it go away, if anything specifically did. Thanks for your time. Aaron.
hello! I can sympathize as I felt the same way for a long time. Even though i'm "Bi" i always felt weird saying it to people. So now if people ask me if i'm gay i just say "a little bit" lol I have no problem telling people I have a gf, i just think the label bothers me. Anyway, as long as you accept yourself and are comfortable with yourself, it should go away. You can try saying it out loud to yourself, maybe then it'll stop feeling so weird!
It is okay not to say it out loud until you are ready. Believe me when you are ready it will come, but do not rush it. Trust your own instincts. I know how you feel because I knew who I was but saying it for the first time it took me forever to just say it out loud.
It's very common for people to not want to say something out loud if they're ashamed of it. I see it a lot with people who experience mental illness, but it also happens to people who're on the LGBT spectrum. Saying something out loud, for some people, makes whatever they're ashamed of seem more real. So this is a normal reaction; as you get more used to being gay, you'll be more comfortable with it.
You will eventually become more comfortable being gay in time, in my opinion, or at least that's how it worked for me. And it took me a really long time to fully embrace my feelings for the same sex and honestly, it is still difficult for me to this day. I try not to obsess over it so much because whenever I do, I tend to feel ashamed all over again. I think interacting with people who are LGBT will be extremely helpful. Once you realize you have nothing to be ashamed of, things will get easier. One thing that helped me was say to tell myself in the mirror that "I am gay" or "I am bisexual." And I honestly feel like a fraud claiming bisexuality because it just doesn't feel 'right' sometimes. But trust me, everything will fall into place and you'll soon feel comfortable enough to admit to yourself who you truly are. Good luck!
I can relate to this. It's still not easy for me to say sometimes, especially in my native language. The word for lesbian sounds like some kind of disease :rolle:, at least it's how I feel it. So I usually just say that 'I like women' or something like that and it works just fine. And don't worry, you'll get there eventually. :icon_wink
