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Do I Need To Come Out Again? (Thought I was gay, but maybe not?)

Discussion in 'Sexual Orientation' started by mujimi, Feb 22, 2016.

  1. mujimi

    Regular Member

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    Hey guys. I've been thinking about this pretty much constantly for weeks and it's starting to drive me insane.
    I'm a senior in high school and from semester two of freshman year I was the outest out lesbian that ever rocked a buzzcut in gaysville. I don't remember why I came out. But it's my entire reputation--I'm the school out and proud man hating butch. I run our Queer Straight Alliance and even wrote about being a lesbian on my college essays. But what I've started realizing recently--I'm actually not so sure of myself.
    In my childhood I guess there were signs. I experimented sexually with alll my best friends as a girl (it was mostly friendly childhood stuff, but I was into it enough to keep seeking it out), and always had male friends who I didn't really have any interest in being anything more with. I used to love to look at women (still do!) and I would look through my mom's coffee table book of Anne Liebowitz' photography of women on a daily basis. Any time there was sexytime on TV I would look at the woman. I don't know if I got sexually excited by this or not, but all my life I was much more focused on women.
    In middle school I went in between saying I was straight and bi. I didn't really crush on anyone, except my female English teacher (didn't recognize my love for her as romantic until much later), but I thought I was supposed to like boys so I assigned myself a few crushes and had a weeklong boyfriend. I was also bullied extensively because people thought I was a lesbian (I was besties with one).
    I started becoming disgusted by the idea of intercourse. Penis grossed me out. I didn't really think about having sex with women and I identified as asexual or graysexual because I could imagine myself enjoying foreplay with a man but not anything involving genitalia.
    That faded when I entered high school. I've never had a successful relationship and I'm more or less a virgin--I go to a high intensity school where dating just doesn't really happen.
    When I masturbate I picture women, and when I used to watch porn, I would 99% watch lesbian porn. I've masturbated to both straight and gay male porn as well, but usually lesbian porn (even while IDing as straight). Once in a blue moon I'll think about a man joining in, but the primary interest for me is always the woman.
    Now I'm not sure where I am. I'll go through periods where I feel nothing towards women. No romantic or sexual interest whatsoever.
    I can't identify what I feel when I look at attractive men. There's a strong sexual curiosity, but only with verrrry few of them: celebrities, mostly.
    I thought I was bi a few days ago, to the point where I almost wept about losing my lesbian identity in class. I had brought it up to a few friends who flat out laughed and said they didn't believe me, but it's all I can wonder about. At work I looked at incoming men to see if I was attracted to them--I found some of them very attractive but I always ended up looking at their girlfriends. Maybe I just do that out of habit?
    I could see myself falling in love with and spending the rest of my life with the right woman. I don't see that with men, but I also don't know if it's just because even allowing myself to think of any sort of relationship with man is something new to me. I feel wrong calling myself a lesbian now. I've been using "sapphic" and "WLW (woman loving woman)" more frequently.
    Right now I think my ideal relationship would be polyamory, f/f/m, where I was primarily involved with the other woman but could sexually experiment with the man.
    What do you guys think? I know this is super long but I'm super obsessed and confused and really want to figure this out in time for my fresh start in college.
     
  2. flyingsublime8

    Regular Member

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    Sexual Orientation:
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    Out to everyone
    It is totally okay if you go through grayish periods in your sexuality most people do. You could be a bit curious to try with guys but it does not invalidate you lesbian identity. Plenty of straight women can be curious with women and plenty of lesbians can be curious with men. You may just have an appreciation for male beauty and that is totally fine there are a lot of attractive men out there. If you find a guy you want to experiment with that would be okay too. College is a time for self discovery, your entire life is! Don't stress about it too much and tell people what you feel comfortable telling them whether it's "lady loving lady" or a "lesbian" it all depends on what you feel comfortable with sharing.
     
  3. darkcomesoon

    Full Member

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    Location:
    New Jersey
    Gender:
    Male (trans*)
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I came out as a "lesbian", then as trans and people still assume I am exclusively into women. I'm pretty tired of coming out, and basically plan on just letting them all figure it out when I get in a relationship with a guy. If you do figure out that you're bi, you don't have to come out unless you want to. Definitely don't feel any pressure to come out until you've completely figured things out and decided you're comfortable with it.
     
  4. mujimi

    Regular Member

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    Thanks so much guys! :slight_smile:
    The thought I had tonight was this-- the people who would get mad at me for being bi are all on the internet, and so really, their opinions don't matter. The people who do matter are the people who know me in real life, and they don't want me to be one identity or the other, they want me to be happy.