ShyGuyInChicago
October 7th, 2011, 12:25 PM
This is what I would say:
I grew up with the belief that people should not hide who they are to be accepted and that it is better to be alone then to hide you are or change who you are in order to be accepted. I was afraid that most of my schoolmates would not accept me if they knew that I was gay. So I made the decision to not make friends, because it seemed unfair to have to hide who I was just to gain acceptance. I figured that I would just be friendless, because at least I would be true to myself. Then I joined Internet forums as a young adult because, and other posters pointed out what I could not see in myself. I have poor social skills. After getting advice from other people I came to realize that I made a mistake. I should not have hidden myself from the world. So this is my advice if you are afraid of what people will think about you if they find out that you are gay. Simply do not come out. Don't hide from the world either. Just live your life and don't tell anyone that you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and etc. I know that it sounds bad to hide who you really are, but sometimes it is a necessity because no matter what you need to be able to interact with people. Sure, the friends you have might not be real friends, but you will eventually be able to abandon them and add people in your life who will accept and love you for being you, and in the event that you find someone who does not accept you, it will be much easier to deal with them than it might be right now. I didn't do any of that and now I am far behind in my social skills, but you don't have to make the same mistake, and it will get better.
I grew up with the belief that people should not hide who they are to be accepted and that it is better to be alone then to hide you are or change who you are in order to be accepted. I was afraid that most of my schoolmates would not accept me if they knew that I was gay. So I made the decision to not make friends, because it seemed unfair to have to hide who I was just to gain acceptance. I figured that I would just be friendless, because at least I would be true to myself. Then I joined Internet forums as a young adult because, and other posters pointed out what I could not see in myself. I have poor social skills. After getting advice from other people I came to realize that I made a mistake. I should not have hidden myself from the world. So this is my advice if you are afraid of what people will think about you if they find out that you are gay. Simply do not come out. Don't hide from the world either. Just live your life and don't tell anyone that you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and etc. I know that it sounds bad to hide who you really are, but sometimes it is a necessity because no matter what you need to be able to interact with people. Sure, the friends you have might not be real friends, but you will eventually be able to abandon them and add people in your life who will accept and love you for being you, and in the event that you find someone who does not accept you, it will be much easier to deal with them than it might be right now. I didn't do any of that and now I am far behind in my social skills, but you don't have to make the same mistake, and it will get better.