Eduard /
“When I was 4 years of age, I remember I always liked boys since then. But it was clearer that It was sexual when I became a teenager, that is when I discovered what it means to be gay. At the age of 6 or 7, I was discovering my own body and others by looking at a magazine, and I found myself liking males way more.
I discovered in school that it was easier to be friends with girls than boys, but my friendships with boys started becoming fake when I needed to pretend I like girls in general. I also did not feel connected with the masculine violence that has to be kind of happening when I’m around male friends.
I grew up feeling different in my family, not only sexually, but in the way of thinking in general. My family is not necessarily accepting of who I am though I never told them that I am gay, but I told my brother and he is okay with it but not supportive. My mother is not necessarily accepting of the idea, I have not shared with her, but she tries to ask me personal questions to discover stuff out.
I had some challenges at school, such as some guys would make comments on how I dressed up or etc, which was offensive. Generally though, I did not have much challenges growing up due to my sexual orientation. I face what LGBT people face in general where people harass me in public verbally or the like, which is unfortunately natural in any society where the minority is LGBT and the majority are not.
Now, I do not define myself as gay, and I do not believe in the concept of gender anymore. It is used to explain different sexual orientations or gender roles. The people who actually discriminate based on gender are the main ones who do not understand what gender is. I do not feel gay today because I do simply believe that I am born male and I am interested in males, but this simply should not put me in a category where I am called a certain name – gay, straight, bisexual, or whatever else.”
