Personal Narrative: I Am Gay

When I knew I was gay, I never thought it would have the impact on my life that it has. In this day and age, especially for my generation, sexual, romantic, and gender freedom are ubiquitous and gaining recognition quickly. I never thought I would turn out to be one of those people, different from a large majority of the population. A lot of people know who they like from early on in life; they remember liking other kids and having boyfriends or girlfriends in elementary school. Was I like that though? Not really. For the majority of my life, up until age 11 or so, I did not even know what the word “gay” meant. I grew up believing all boys liked girls, all girls liked boys, all kids should grow up and get married and have kids of themselves, …show more content…
I noticed myself feeling lonely much more often, and not a simplistic “I want to be with my friends” feeling, but rather a “I want someone close to talk to, to go beyond just simply ‘a friend’”. I also started finding other guys attractive around this time, something I thought was completely bizarre and unfamiliar. I knew I was changing, but I did not know how. Moving from there, I did what any child growing up in the modern age would do: I went to the internet. I scoured hundreds of webpages, trying to find other people who were in the same situation as I was. It all lead to same end: that I was, in fact, gay. I came out to two of my best friends, Mary and Emily, and was met with validating, encouraging responses. Emily was ecstatic I finally was starting to know who I was, and that I was coming to terms with my orientation. On the other hand Mary was largely indifferent and stolid, although still supportive. From that point on I started coming out to my other friends, although many times I was met with the “I knew it!” or “I had a feeling.” responses. Being met with positive responses as I came out was a relief; I knew that I was lucky enough to be surrounded by people that still loved me for who I was. I became much happier and confident, and I no longer felt like I had some large, crushing weight on my shoulders. That feeling of truth about who I was changed me, and made me into the person I am today. Throughout the past two years I have been completely open with my sexuality, and being gay has been integrated into my personality. I have met a wide community of other people, whom I can look to for insight and advice on being gay. I strive to be open about who I am, and what I have gone through, in hopes it will inspire other people to do the