My Experience With Coming Out
A lot of people think that coming out is the act of simply telling your friends and family and other people in your life that you are gay, bisexual or trans; and that's what I first thought too. But then I realised that it's much more than that. It's mostly about discovering and acknowledging who you truly are and learning to accept yourself.
Personally, I had never felt scared of coming out to my friends as bisexual because they have always been supportive and accepting. But, when it came to my parents, I was extemely confused on how to. Then I started thinking, "does it really matter if I tell them or not". I became much more relieved when I realised it's not necessary for them to know. And to everyone out there, who is closeted and scared to come out to come out to their parents, just know that it's not always like what you see in the movies or on your Instagram posts. Sometimes they might be acceptive and happy for you, and the other times they can really bring you down.
Social media has been an important aspect in this journey. I have seen so many posts on Instagram and on tiktok about people coming out and celebrating who they are. One thing I noticed was that they looked so happy and carefree about whether or not society accepted them for who they are. Looking at this I felt supported and encouraged to love myself the way I am. And right when I started discovering my sexuality, my entire insta feed was filled up with LGBTQ hastags and I was so surprised on how confident people were and how popular the support for this community is.
Some misconcenptions I've heard about bisexual people is that they tend to cheat on their significant other since they are attracted to both genders. Attraction to both the genders doesn't make the person automatically unfaithful. Bisexual people are likely to cheat as much as a straight/cis person.
Another I've heard is that bisexuals are only bisexual if they have had relationships with all of the genders they are attracted to ( how can you be bi if you've only dated boys?).
Bisexual people don’t necessarily choose who to date based on gender, and the truth is that people don’t really choose whether they’ve been in relationships with all guys, all girls, all nonbinary people, etc. People date who they’re attracted to at the time. Bisexual people do not need to follow an even pattern.
One thing that scared me the most when I realised I was a part of the LGBTQ is the amount of hate crimes done against us. We see all over social media about hate crimes being done against LGBTQ people and that made me feel scared and unsafe. Is it really worth being identified as a queer person if these are the things that happen if I would? Is the question that popped in my mind.
Lastly, I would just like to say that don't let people tell you or label you, instead discover yourself on your own, it's a long journey :)
By:
Rakshitaa