Sexuality

When I was younger, I never understood that there was more to sexuality than I ever knew

My parents never taught me this, and so my reality was very secluded

I thought all people of all kinds were the same and that there was no such thing as being different

I thought men only loved women, and women only loved men

I thought that that was the social norm; it was what I was taught

I walked around with a thick veil hanging over my eyes

I never saw the beautiful couples; I only saw lies

I only saw what my parents taught me was “right”

When I was younger, I discovered the word lesbian for the first time

I determined myself straight, and my friend knew she was not

The moment she told me, I looked at her and said, “What!?”

In my world, there was no such thing as gay or lesbian

It shocked me, a lot

I didn’t understand because I didn’t have the concept of what was going on

But that was it, right?

That’s all I needed to know?

Wrong.

My world completely changed after that

When I was younger, I joined a school club in grade nine

It taught me even more than my parents ever had

Phrases I’ve never heard of before were hitting from me on all sides

Phrases I never even knew existed were seen in a different light

Pansexual, Bisexual, Queer, Transgender, Transsexual, Two-spirited…

The list goes on!

I told my mother, but even she didn’t know what to say

My dad just looked at me, and that was the only answer I could get

My friends started coming out

I started to meet people who already knew themselves

I started to realize that there was more to life that my parents didn’t know and that I was beginning to learn and it felt… Amazing

With my new found knowledge, I reached down inside and asked myself,

What are you?

When I was younger, I would have said, “I’m straight.”

Short, sweet and simple.

But now that I’m older, I know.

Now, I say this, “I am an asexual, hetero-romantic, and gender fluid.”

With the utmost certainty and it feels great.