General Discussion

[quote name="pxl8td" date="2021-07-25 14:38:36" ] Hey! I'm a 22 year old who is STILL struggling with my gender identity. Two things that helped me realize i wasn't CIS are gender euphoria and gender dysphoria. You can have both, one or the other, or neither, and still be trans though. Everyone has a different experience and you won't truly know until you experiment, just remember to take things at your own pace, and that theres never any shame in changing your mind. Our personal identities will grow as we age, and the labels are only there to give us a vocabulary to express ourselves and to connect to like minded communities, but gender is a beautiful and elaborate spectrum and no one can be simplified or neatly organized. I hope this helps!! [/quote] while this wasn't directed at me, I tend to browse through the thread sometimes and it really made me feel a lot better. I've been struggling with a lot of the same stuff, and I'm not much younger than you, and honestly I've been feeling super confused, frustrated with myself, invalid, etc. so, I just wanted to let you know that your post really helped me. welcome to flight rising, i sent you a flight-themed care package! ^u^

[quote name="@capybaras" date="2021-07-25 01:52:03" ] urgh im remembering that biphobia exists and i am Not feeling well i feel sad and lonely and anxious abt my bisexuality like every week so it’s back for another round… any other bisexuals ever feel down abt their identity? how do you deal w it? [/quote] In my experience, just talking with other bi/queer people about orientiation/identity or even anything else helps. Like, there's some stuff about being bi that I can only really talk about with other bi/queer people if that makes sense?

So, I recently realized, after having a mental breakdown while writing in my journal earlier, that I’m probably a lesbian.

I tried to pretend to simp for the ultra-masculine characters in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure like many other female anime fans do, but that’s just not how I roll. It’s not who I am.

It was like trying to force a beach ball underwater. Eventually it’s going to spring up and smack you right in the face. That’s what it felt like while I was struggling with my own internalized homophobia.

I’m not attracted to men. I never have been and I never will be. I don’t regret my JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure phase though, because instead of “turning me straight” like I secretly hoped it would, it just further proved what I’ve always suspected for many years: that I am indeed a lesbian.

Man it feels so good not having to lie to myself anymore!

Thought I was pansexual until very recently, can safely say it's more towards demi-lesbian panromantic now, got me years to realize it. Needless to say, I avoided people until I understood myself first lol (not friendship-wise, I'm all good and have friends xD)

Came out but it's a pretty emotional story that I'm not gonna share, just gonna say I'm in a good place with supportive peoples.

[quote name="@capriciousCatnip" date="2021-07-27 17:01:41" ] So, I recently realized, after having a mental breakdown while writing in my journal earlier, that I’m probably a lesbian. I tried to pretend to simp for the ultra-masculine characters in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure like many other female anime fans do, but that’s just not how I roll. It’s not who I am. It was like trying to force a beach ball underwater. Eventually it’s going to spring up and smack you right in the face. That’s what it felt like while I was struggling with my own internalized homophobia. I’m not attracted to men. I never have been and I never will be. I don’t regret my JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure phase though, because instead of “turning me straight” like I secretly hoped it would, it just further proved what I’ve always suspected for many years: that I am indeed a lesbian. Man it feels so good not having to lie to myself anymore! [/quote] Eyyyy congrats!!!! It's always so fufilling coming to that point in your life when you realize who you are and who you want to be! It's only been a couple years since I realized I was a lesbian and only a couple months since I came out, but I know how good it can feel when that happens, regardless of what you're identifying as. I don't know much about jojo besides my cousin trying to get me to watch it once or twice but if it helped you that much then I might have to consider trying to watch it again ;)

@Lemures

Thank you very much for your support! Although, now I'm starting to second-guess myself and have doubts, which tends to happen a lot during this "time of the month".

I may have jumped the gun a little bit with my coming out post, because my fluctuating hormones give me terrible mood swings and negatively impact my mental health, so I may have been too hasty in putting a label on myself.

I actually tend to feel most comfortable identifying as bi/pan. The so-called "bi-cycle" hits me really hard at different times. In general, I tend to feel much more attracted to feminine people as I approach that "time of the month", while at other times I'm more often attracted to masculine people.

But anyway, JoJo has helped me in so many ways. It's safe to say that it's my favorite anime/manga of all time, which is really saying a lot because I've been watching anime/reading manga longer than some of the users here have even been alive!

i’m so happy
me and my crush can text each other now?? one on one?? and as i know her more, the more our dark humor matches perfectly

but i don’t know if i have a crush, is the thing

@capriciousCatnip Hah, I get that. Changing your labels or not choosing to have any at has always worked for tons of people! Either way, whichever you choose to identify as, you'll always have solidarity with everyone else in the community :)