Author's Note: Wasn't planning on ever doing another installment or update this article, but some recent experiences have given me more stuff to drone and preach and vent about, so I decided to post this here. Enjoy.

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Ah, nothing like being subjected to a typical stereotype of a homosexual. Promiscuous, flamboyant, and generally just a girl being trapped in a man’s body. As frustrating as it is, this is how many people view homosexuals, and I have been subjected to such stereotypes quite recently. It’s hard enough being gay already, having not fully come out to my family yet. Everyday I live with the fear of coming out to them for the simple fact of how they’d react, and how they will treat me afterwards.

A lot of my frustration with the ignorant masses comes from the aforementioned instance of stereotypes. A vast majority of individuals all seem to have this single idea that all gay people are sexually charged and overly flamboyant. The truth is, that is the furthest thing from the truth. The image homosexuals as a whole receives mostly comes from celebrities or people in the media that put on that fake, over the top performance of being gay. The truth is, in all the instances I’ve seen personally, most people could never tell a specific person was gay to begin with just by looking at them. That’s the consensus I’ve received when I’ve come out to friends and acquaintances at school. So the point I’m trying to make is that people try basing the idea of someone being homosexual on the images they see plastered all over the media and the likes. Homosexuals are not all excessively glamorized drag queens who like to have sex with multiple partners. We’re normal, everyday people like everyone else. The fact that we have a different sexual orientation doesn’t make us any less “normal” than anybody else, because there really is no such thing a being normal. It’s a relative term that can’t be placed on people because everyone is different, and what’s normal to one person seems completely bizarre to another.

The fact that people base their beliefs and perceptions on homosexuals based on what they read or watch is what makes people “fear” them. They let the stereotypes fuel their prejudices, which ultimately feeds their hatred of gays and lesbians. Because of that, they are quick to judge those who come out that they’re gay, bi, or lesbian and scorn them for their “choice.” That is the very reason I have yet to come out to my family about me being gay. Like many others, I have seen and heard what they feel, think, and believe about people with “alternative lifestyles.” That alone is enough to make me leery of revealing the truth to them, for if I did, I fear I might be thrown out of my house with nowhere to go, or maybe just be tolerated and always have my family members looking at me, knowing that I’m a disappointment in their eyes. None of that may happen, but with all the stories from friends on their coming out to their family, it’s no wonder I’m a bit hesitant on doing the same. But, does that make me a coward for not accepting the reality fate has rested upon me and admitting to the world that I’m gay and I’m proud of who I am?

I may not be the most well adapted person in the world, but I do know that I’m pretty damn certain what I am, and that I’ve spent long enough fretting over that area of my life. There are still people who doubt and question my sexuality despite my claims to being gay. It’s because they see Elton John and his frilly wardrobe all over the news, or the flamboyant stereotypes of what gay people are on the various sitcoms all over tv. The images of homosexuals they see on tv are a poor representation of what real, true life homosexuals are like. True, there may be some like the ones presented in the media, but for the most part, gays, bisexuals, and lesbians are everyday people just trying to get by like the rest of the world. Being discriminated against and stereotyped is the last thing they need, because life is hard enough as it is.

While there will always be people who are misinformed and ignorant to the truth, the best thing anyone struggling to come to terms with their sexual identity can do is to shrug off whatever other people might say about you, and simply brush it aside. You have nothing to prove to anyone. The only person you have to prove anything to is yourself, and that’s all that matters. It may not be easy, and it may seem difficult, but without diversity and the struggle to overcome it, we wouldn’t be half the people we are today.