Pride Month Blogathon: Day 12 – Introduction to Pride Month Blogathon
by Kav
If I’m being honest with myself, I never thought of myself as “straight.”
Growing up, I never labeled myself that way and instead thought along the lines of “I’ll love who I love, no matter their gender.” That’s not to say that I never struggled to discover my gender and romantic and sexual orientations or that I never had a coming out experience – it’s definitely been a rocky ride. But when it came down to it, I was always fortunate enough to have been sure that my family wouldn’t disown me. I also knew, though, that they wouldn’t understand me, no matter how hard they tried.
Being out publicly as a nonbinary biromantic asexual teen is not easy, to say the least – especially not in the time we live in. I’ve definitely had it easy in a way so many others have not, but I’ve still faced my fair share of struggles because of who I am. The one thing that got me through those struggles, and the struggles that are still ongoing, is having a community. Even though I have known that I’m not straight for the majority of my life, it was always something I kept to myself. I didn’t even come out to my best friend until high school – which is okay, of course, but I could’ve used his support. When I started high school, the group I met somehow started talking about sexuality and all the identities that fall under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella. Now, I have no idea why I randomly came out to a group of nerdy 14 year olds I had met less than an hour ago, but I did. This experience taught me the importance of having a community.
Before I knew it, I was in my school’s GSC, out to my closest friends, and, soon enough, building an online community. Having a group of people who not only accept me for who I am, but who can understand who I am, has been one of the most important aspects of me coming to terms with my identity. I always thought I was comfortable being part of the LGBTQIA+ community, but I wasn’t, not until I was actually part of it. I needed to meet people who had already faced what I was facing or who were currently facing what I was facing – I wouldn’t have even known I’m nonbinary if I hadn’t joined my school’s GSC.
Finding a community has in no way diminished all the struggles I face to this day, especially in terms of the recent U.S. election, but now I know that there are other people out there like me. I know that there are other people out there who feel the way I do and who truly understand what I’m going through. There are some struggles I’ll never be able to overcome – I’m never going to stop experiencing gender dysphoria, for example, but I’m not alone anymore. I’m not alone in experiencing gender dysphoria. Others have found some ways to help cope with it and maybe, one day, I’ll find a way to help someone else cope. I was never really comfortable with being part of the LGBTQIA+ community until I was actually part of the LGBTQIA+ community, but I’m finally not alone anymore.
And neither are you.
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Kav is a 15 year old nonbinary, biromatic, asexual, South Indian teen who loves fashion, books, and social justice. They are frequently active on Twitter and YouTube talking about a combination of book-related and social justice-related topics. You can often find them active here: https://www.youtube.com/c/xreadingsolacex
