Open Closets

Labels

A/N: Hey lovelies, here is the 12th chapter, and it's written by the lovely TARDISBluePencil. She is an amazing writer and so nice. And I'm so happy that she helped me, a big thanks to you, girl. <3

Hey this is Niamh (TARDISBluePencil), this is my piece for the book.

The first time I came out as lesbian was in February (2015) to my best friend over text at three in the morning and this was only after years of confusion and flat-out lying and pretending to have crushes on guys. I came out to another few friends a little while later, who convinced me to tell my mum - they were all accepting and lovely but I wasn't comfortable in my skin yet, and my dad was a little slower to accept it.

All of this led to a depressive period that lasted months during which I struggled with self harm. Again, my friends knew before I told my mum, and in the end one of them called her and told her what was going on, and everything came together in a disastrous night with a lot of tears. I ended up coming out to my sisters and the rest of my friends on the same night, and immediately the relief was just incredible. Anyone else who's come out and gotten a good reaction will know the feeling of realizing that you're not going to have to hide yourself anymore.

Even though we're taking massive strides towards equality, there's still some amount of stigma that comes with LGBTQ+. A friend of mine was physically attacked by people in her school for coming out as bisexual there; she's fourteen, like me. Her attackers were fourteen. It's a terrifying concept, knowing that there will always be people who hate you for who you love, but it's important to surround yourself with people who support you. If the people you're with don't support you, go find new people.

The best bit of advice I could give someone who's in the closet or is in the process of coming out is that it's equally okay to label yourself as it is to not label yourself. Some people find comfort in putting a label on what they're feeling, and some people don't. Both of them are fine, but you should be in complete control of the when and how and who of your coming out process and whether you choose to label yourself or not. Just remember that your gender/sexuality is a part of you, not your entirety, so don't let anyone try and define you by it.

Thanks,
Niamh

A/N: Thanks again to TARDISBluePencil for helping me. She is a great friend and she gives great advice...
So if anyone of you out there needs help or just wants to talk please don't hesitate to message us or comment.
See ya soon with another update lovelies,
Byeee ♥♡♥

oh and I wanted to thank all of you for all the sweet comments on my chapter, they made me smile so much thank you