Hello!

[Storybrooke]

I've been in desperate need to join a community filled with LGBT people and now that I've found this place I figured I'd say hello!

Lookin' forward to broadening my knowledge of the community as well as hopefully making some new friends.

[LONDONER]

Welcome to GS Storybrooke, you've come to the right place. You'll find that we're a friendly bunch here either for seeking advice or making friends. Don't forget to read the Forum Rules and be aware that your first 50 posts are monitored so don't be surprised if your posts don't appear immediately. It's just to weed out trolls.

[Dan1980]

Hi welcome to GS it's a great place to be

[princealbertofb]

Hello, [MENTION=24371]Storybrooke[/MENTION], and to GaySpeak. Could you tell us a bit more about your life history and how you determined your sexual orientation. Feel free to ask questions as I feel free to ask you more background to your personal story. Feel free also not to answer and to keep whatever you need to ... secret.

[Storybrooke]

Sure thing, I've known I was gay since I was in the sixth grade. Beforehand I just didn't care about "attraction" one way or another as I was a kid. I've kept it a secret since then because I come from a very conservative and religious family, and sadly I reflected my insecurities and self-hatred on to others, going so far as to act homophobic in order to hide who I am from my family. Lots of dark times came and went for me regarding my sexuality.

It wasn't really till early last year where I could really admit that I'm gay to myself and not see it as a "bad" thing. I've grown as a person and all together decided that any religion where people get "punished" for not being the same as everyone else wasn't for me. There's nothing to be ashamed of for being who I was born to be, and I love saying "I'm so GAY" when no one is around. It's been a real therapeutic experience. I came out to my big sister in February and we had a long deep talk about it where it pretty much ended with her crying about how she wasn't there for me and she should have known. We're closer now then before, which is saying a lot since we've always been close.

Since she's the only one I'm really out too, I hope that someday I won't have to take such baby steps and I'll have the courage to tell both of my parents, but that's remained to be seen.