Member-only story
When Did You Realize You Weren’t Straight?
It happened in my junior year of high school. I can’t pin down what event led me to the realization I was bisexual — only the moment that it took place.
I was in the middle of art class coloring in red cherries when it smacked me in the face. The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle I’d been trying to complete my entire life suddenly clicked together. All the pictures I’d saved of Ruby Rose in my phone, the cute boy I kissed at homecoming, the pretty girl in my English class that I couldn’t stop thinking about — it all made sense now.
Honestly, it’s surprising that it took me so long to figure it out — there aren’t a lot of girls who stockpile images of Australian models so they can ogle them platonically.
I could see the big picture, and it wasn’t straight.
Now that I’d discovered this part of myself, I had to re-examine every moment of my life as a bisexual. My personal history connected in a new way, and I saw that many of my actions had been unknowingly influenced by my attraction to men and women.
When I finally worked up the courage to share the news with my closest friends and family, I was met with a lot of acceptance — but I was also met with a lot of skepticism. My parents…
