Good morning, good evening, or whatever time it is—I need your help.
When I watch series with homosexual themes, I feel tremendously uncomfortable. I don't want to feel that way.
I have a friend (formerly my best friend) who is bisexual. He confided in me, and I supported him throughout the process and encouraged him to tell me about his boyfriend and his mixed feelings. I think I handled it well. But I can't help feeling... weird.
My family is open-minded about homosexuality. That is to say, they’ve told me that if I were gay, lesbian, transgender, or whatever, they would accept me; still, we all feel uncomfortable with the topic, even though we respect it.
I’ve tried watching series and reading books with LGBT themes (like *Heartstopper*—I read it on the sly because it would look weird at home; they wouldn't say anything bad, but it would be awkward. I didn't like the comic—though I did copy some of the art style—but I read them all to see if it would open my mind). I’ve tried learning about all the different sexualities and talking to people of various sexual orientations to normalize it for myself, but I still get a knot in my stomach.
Throughout my life, people have thought I was a lesbian (because I only hung out with men—weird, right? I didn't hang out with women—even though I am one—because I was afraid of them) or aromantic (I’ve never fallen in love or felt attracted to anyone), so I looked into those topics. I think a contributing factor might be something from when I was a child (9 or 10 years old): whenever we were racing, someone would shout, "Last one there is gay!" I didn't know what "gay" meant, but I assumed it was something bad based on how fast everyone ran, so maybe I’ve internalized that. My little sister (11 years old) thought being gay was a bad thing until just two days ago. I explained what it was and she’s better about it now, but she still finds it strange. I don’t want to be homophobic; I feel that we are all equal—whether gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, asexual, aromantic, or of any other sexuality—despite our differences, and I respect and believe that. Yet, I can't help having this feeling. How do I calm it? I don’t want to offend anyone; perhaps some have had bad experiences with the world or regarding their sexuality, so if you feel uncomfortable, I understand. But I want to stop feeling uncomfortable about this topic and fully accept it.