Internatnal OCD Foundatn | How Do I Know I’m Not Really Gay/Straight?

Contents:

• AM I GAY?
• PEOPLE THK I'M GAY... BUT I'M NOT
• HOW DO I KNOW I’M NOT REALLY GAY/STRAIGHT?
• 'HOMOSEXUAL OCD': STRAIGHT MEN WHO SPECT THEY ARE GAY
• I LIKE GUYS BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE GAY. HOW DO I STOP BEG GAY?
• WHY DO EVERYONE THK I'M GAY?!

AM I GAY?

It’s not pletely known why someone might be lbian, gay, straight, or bisexual.

You also n’t “turn” a person gay.

For example, exposg a boy to toys tradnally ma for girls, such as dolls, won’t e him to be gay. Many people say that they knew they were lbian, gay, or bisexual even before puberty. ” Many people, cludg sex rearchers and scientists, believe that sexual orientatn is like a sle wh entirely gay on one end and entirely straight on the other.

PEOPLE THK I'M GAY... BUT I'M NOT

LGBTQ stands for Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, and Queer/Qutng.

Sexual inty is how you label yourself (for example, g labels such as queer, gay, lbian, straight, or bisexual).

Some people may engage same genr sexual behavr but not intify themselv as bisexual, lbian, or gay.

HOW DO I KNOW I’M NOT REALLY GAY/STRAIGHT?

5% intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual. Gay - While this adjective has historilly scribed men who are attracted to other men, the term now is ed to refer to anyone who experienc romantic, emotnal, or physil attractn to people of the same genr.

Sce genr inty and sexual orientatn are separate, transgenr people n intify as straight, gay, lbian, bisexual, etc. —and we n sometim sense early on that somethg about our ternal experience feels the fifth gra, when a iend of me sneered that I was gay as an sult, I thought maybe I had land on a name for what I felt.

'HOMOSEXUAL OCD': STRAIGHT MEN WHO SPECT THEY ARE GAY

I wasn’t straight like I was supposed to be, but damn , I wasn’t this untercultural “gay” thg eher.

I also helped start the Gay/Straight Alliance at my high school. Eventually, this led me the oppose directn of what you might assume: My sexual boredom and sometim even disgt wh the men I dated led me to believe I was, and always had been, super gay after, my early 20s, I threw myself a new directn and got eply volved my lol queer muny. I tried donng a “homoflexible” label for a few years, but two boyiends later I had to s back and take a good look at my inty and why my perceptn of kept shiftg seemgly so I didn’t unrstand as I tried on the different labels was that isn’t simply our behavr that dictat who we are.

I LIKE GUYS BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE GAY. HOW DO I STOP BEG GAY?

In orr to have doubts about one’s sexual inty, a sufferer need not ever have had a homo- or heterosexual experience, or any type of sexual experience at all. If the sufferer is heterosexual, then the thought may be that they are homosexual. If on the other hand they happen to be homosexual they may obss about the possibily that they might really be straight.

” Some people’s doubts are further plited by havg such experienc as hearg other people talkg or lookg their directn and thkg that the people mt be analyzg their behavr or appearance and talkg about them – discsg how they mt be gay (or straight).

For those wh thoughts of beg homosexual, part of the distrs mt surely be social orig.

WHY DO EVERYONE THK I'M GAY?!

Let’s face , gay people have always been an opprsed mory wh our culture, and to sudnly thk of beg this posn, and to be stigmatized this way, n be ighteng. I have sometim wonred if those who experience the most distrs om such thoughts as the do so bee they were raised wh more strongly homophobic or anti-gay attus to beg wh, or if is simply bee one’s sexualy n be such a basic doubt.

Lookg at attractive men or women, or pictur of them, or readg sexually oriented lerature or pornography (hetero- or homosexual), to see if they are sexually excg. Observg themselv for evince of “lookg, ” talkg, walkg, drsg, or gturg like someone who is eher gay or straight. Compulsively reviewg and analyzg past teractns wh other men or women to see if they have acted like a gay or straight person.