Gay And Proud
This article is pending translation
As an openly gay teenager, I have experienced the 'coming out' process, the bullying and ridicule phase, and being a part of a same-sex relationship.
I completely understand that homosexuality is a bit of a taboo subject; you either accept it or oppose it.
However, it is a subject that contains issues that are apparent in many teenagers and young adults lives.
Therefore it is a necessity that there is information out there to help those who need it, and to let them know that they aren't alone.
Me talking about homosexuality as an openly gay guy may make you think that what I am saying is a bit biased. This is not the case. Everyone who identifies themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual or transgender is beautiful in their own way. Sexuality does not have to define who you are.
Coming out to my friends wasn't so hard. They had all kind of guessed. However, my family was a whole different story. So many questions floated around my head. How would my parents react? Would they accept me for who I am? It took me a long time to build up the courage to tell my family, but I did; and I have been 'out' for the past three years. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I could be myself for the first time in my life.
This isn't me trying to tell everyone to come out, shout proud from the rooftops, or paint the town in rainbows. Simply that, the burden that you carry, when the time is right for you to come out, it does get better. There is plenty of support available to you out there. You only get to live your life once, don't spend it living a charade.
Whilst on the topic, unless you've been a complete recluse, you would have noticed on the news about the decisions being made about gay marriage. For one, I am appalled at the amount of attention this story is carrying with it. There is so much opposition towards the proposal, mainly from religious followers. I have nothing against religion, but this is not about gay rights. This is about equal rights...
By G Lake
Info >> Family & Relationships >> Being In A Relationship >> Same Sex Relationships
IMAGE: CarbonNYC via Compfightcc
1 Comment – Post a comment
End0fDarkness
Commented 4 months ago - 17th January 2013 - 17:39pm
Good article. I agree, that there is still a lot of homophobia about, especially within religious groups and challenging them on it, I see is a good thing. People having their own belief system is fine, as long as they don't dictate what others should believe.
I am hetero myself and I have no problem with any kind of sexuality. I see people's sexual preferences being the same as their preference to what flavour ice cream they like.
The only thing I can sometimes take offence with is when some people assume that because I'm hetero, I must be homophobic. This really is not the case but I can see why people assume that I might be if most other heteros they have met were homophobic.
I think as humans, we need to be careful not to fall into the trap of 'us versus them' mentality, as if being hetero or transgender or homosexual makes people somehow not the same. I don't believe that hetero's are awesome, niether are homosexuals, there are way too many people in each group to make a general statement like that.