Aromantic

Time Marches On

The longer I identify as aro, the more sure I am about it.

I found out I was aro when I was 14, came out when I was 15, and now I'm 16. Still not much, I know, but I'm so much more comfortable with myself than I was before I identified this way. I'm enjoying aro memes more thoroughly and I make aro jokes and references around my friends all the time and they support me.

Honestly I probably  should've figured out even sooner that I was aro. 

When I was 13, I went on a rant to my supposed 'crush' about how I thought crushes were weird because yeah I wanted to hold hands but no I didn't feel butterflies and I didn't want to kiss anybody. I literally mentioned a queerplatonic relationship and said that's what I wanted (with her but I didn't say that). She responded a little while later about the possibility that I was aromantic, and that I should google a "shit ton of LGBTQ terms and see if any of them fit". 

I decided then that I wanted a relationship styled after  a qpp but not actually a qpp, because of course I was going to fall in love with someone! I can't just not  do that. Funny line of reasoning. 

At the very least, it did bring consciousness about the fact that aromanticism existed. A year later, at 14, I found a post about alterous attraction and went "oh SHIT".

I googled it and saw it connected to the aromantic community. I immediately talked to one of my friends about it, whom I had talked to before about other LGBTQ related questions, and she immediately supported me. On National Coming Out Day (October 11th), now that I was 15, I came out to about 10 of my friends simultaneously by posting to my close friends story on Instagram. 

I was very, very nervous, but it went well. Most of them didn't know what aromanticism was to begin with, so I posted, along with the story, some resources. I sent screenshots of explanations to a lot of them, and towards the end of the day, everyone knew and was comfortable with my identity. 

I spent the rest of the year exploring and asserting my identity, following aroace positivity blogs, and generally finding that aromantic niche. I started writing this story, and I'm glad that it's helped other people find that they related to a lot of what I said.

I'm 16 now! I'm comfortably active in a lot of aro spaces, and one of my friends gave me a cute heart-shaped aro pin! It's so cute. My friends have been so supportive, and I'm so glad I am where I am. 

Here's some aro memes for the road: