How I Gained Confidence to Love and Accept Myself

I came out when I was 14 years old. The first person I told was my best friend at the time.

I basically just told her I had a crush on a girl and she was like “ok cool” and that was that. From there on, I never did anything to hide my sexuality. But I don’t do much to show it off either. It is a part of me, but it does not define me.

I had always had feelings for both boys and girls and never though much of it. It was only until I had read about sexuality terms when I was like “oh that’s me.”

It’s a struggle to come out and face the fact that not everyone is going to like or accept you. As long as you stay true to your character and recognize that other people’s opinions do not define you, you will gain confidence to love and accept yourself.

I think homophobia, just like racism and other forms of prejudice, usually stay at a constant. But, due to the increased use of social media, people have a larger platform. on social media, people can express their feelings whether positive or negative to a broader group of people in a shorter amount of time.

I wish there were more LGBTQ+ characters in media. Though LGBTQ+ representation in media has increased, it still feels hard to relate to the LGBTQ+ characters on TV and in the movies. This is because they seem to just be thrown in as a requirement.