I have never spoken to another LGBT person before, do you exist?!

I exist!

I know how you feel and I am sure many of the others on the forum have felt the same at some point in their lives.

 

Hello, and don't worry you are not alone. Feel free to talk about anything you need to

 

You're definitely not alone, there are thousands of people who feel just like you. Some of them are here! Don't be intimidated or afraid, I promise most of us are friendly.

 

I haven't yet, but I have only been out for ~5 months.

 

Hello and Welcome to EC!!

 

I came from a rural community, the views of most the people living there were, lets call it, 'conservative'. I didn't come out until I left for university. I started identifying as gay at 13.

 

Yep, we really, truly do exist Although, it's two thirty here in Croatia, so it's really time for me to take my daily trip out of existence

We don't mind questions though, so feel free to ask them.

 

aye bud welcome to EC

and im in the same boat as ya

 

You are definitely not alone. I only identified as gay about a month ago, and have only came out to my mom and one friend in the past couple days. But I knew that I was different at about age ten, and I suppressed and denied who I truly am for almost fourteen years.

 

Hey, welcome to EC!

You're far from alone. LGBT people exist everywhere; that means in your city as well. You just don't know them yet

Feel free to ask anything you want.

Edit. Didn't see the questions yet:

- My roommate/best friend kissed me about a year ago.
- Everyone I've told I'm probably not straight has reacted either fine or absolutely perfect so far. You can read a lot of stories in the Coming Out Stories section here on the forum if you want.
- Nope.
- I did, a whole bunch of them, in fact. But I'm just very lucky; most people don't know a lot of, or any, LGBT people (that they're aware of).

 

I was tempted to say that this forum was an elaborate multi-government money laundering scheme, but... Then I'd be telling the truth. :eek:

In all seriousness, welcome =) ! I know how it feels to not know any gay people (well, it's different for me now, but I had felt that way for all my life until a few years ago). I encourage you to let your curiosity be indulged. Feel free to interact with everyone here! I hope that void that's been there for presumably your whole life so far, up until now, can start to be filled.

1. Well... It depends what constitutes a gay experience. Does pr0n (!) count? Does going out with another guy on multiple dates, and being boyfriends, but not actually doing anything except holding hands like twice (let's be honest, that's pretty gay :dry: I jest.) count? If neither of those count, then I guess I haven't had one yet.

2. I posted a thread that you may wish to check out. If you go to my profile and search around, you can find threads that I've made. It's about my most important experiences about coming out, and maybe it'll help you down the line. =)

3. The stigma exists for a few reasons. Some people pretend to be bisexual when they're actually gay because it allows them to still be 'straight' while still being allowed to declare that they like the same sex. Then, later on, these people may come out as actually being gay. That's one reason.

Another reason is that some say that bisexual people 'can't choose' or are 'undecided' (which is quite biphobic[basically, this means discrimination or mistreatment towards bisexual people]). The fact is that people can be attracted to both genders, as you're aware of. It sounds silly, doesn't it? And yet... It's a real 'thing' (biphobia, that is).

I'm not bisexual, so I don't know if this applies, but many people, as well as myself, have been told that we're just confused, or that it's just a phase, or that we can't be certain because we've never been in a relationship before. Even so, I'm as sure that I'm gay as I am that this banana is dancing. (!)

4. I haven't grown up with any LGBT people. If I had, I likely would've felt more sure of myself, as then I'd be able to see that they actually exist. Also, it'd be nice to have an older role model who's openly gay, etc.

Opportunities increase when you enter university, or when you're at that age. There may be LGBT youth groups that are around your area, and you might want to find out about them and see if you'd want to go. If not, that's totally fine as well. Sexuality is merely one side of us... But the group would likely be a place for you to talk about these kinds of things with others in person.

 

Welcome to EC! May the future on here be great!

 

I know how you feel if u ever need someone to talk to u can message me

 

Welcome! I hope this site will be a safe haven for you to explore your feelings like it has been for so many others.

 

Welcome to EC! We exist (it is estimated that there are about 6 million in the US alone!

 

YOOO omg that's how i feel irl LOL

man i got so excited when i met my first gay dude... he was pretty boring, /sob. how anti-climatic.