My Story

Twelve is an odd age for any child. On the cusp of teenage glory, usually in the top dogs of “big school”, not realising the swift kick in the teeth secondary school promised, ‘tis strange. For me, being twelve can be surmised in one quick, harmless utterance:

“….Oh.”

Flying Bi

I am Bisexual. It still feels so weird to say, but that is me. My name is Aoife, and I am bi. Growing up I always thought I was straight, aggressively straight I might add. I don’t think there was a year in my life where I didn’t have a crush on a boy. The first crush I can remember having was when I was six, I liked a boy that lived down the road from me, and everyone knew, literally everyone. Since that one, the only thing I knew was boys. I never thought that being with a girl could be a thing that I could do.               

But then college happened. I found myself only having the small group of friends that I had from secondary school and even still only one of them went to the same college as me. Being the person, I am, slightly awkward in situations I wasn’t comfortable in, I found one person in my course that I got on with, but that wasn’t enough. With some coaxing from my friend who was already a member I joined Out in UL to try and get more involved and basically make some new friends. I must say this is when my college life got significantly better, I learned about different aspects of the LGBTQ+ community, took part in events that I wouldn’t usually take part in, became a committee member and even made some very good friends that I hope to never forget.

You’re still valid. I’m still valid.

If you identify as bisexual, chances are, you’ve gone through a sexuality crisis. And then again. And again. And everyday even after you’ve been out and proud for ages, there’s a sneaky little voice in the back of your head that rings around for hours at a time, bringing anxiety and vulnerability;

“Well, you like [insert opposite gender], you’re not reallllly bisexual.”

Or

“That thing with [insert same gender pronoun] was a fling. That’s all. You’re definitely [insert monosexual orientation].”

Or my personal tormenter;

“Here you are. Too gay for the straights and too straight for the gays, trying to be something you’re not.”

“Gay. Probably gay.”

Hi, my name is Mic and I’m probably gay.
But why bother saying it? Why bother writing about it? I can already hear the “We get it, you’re gay. You don’t have to keep talking about it.”
But the thing is, I do. Somewhere out there, probably in the back arse of nowhere in somewhere like Leitrim (which does actually exist by the way – they got their first set of traffic lights nine months ago) there’s a girl who needs to read that opening sentence. She might be able to relate to my story, and hopefully feel a little more at ease about her own untold story because of it.

Coming Out as Bisexual is an Ongoing Journey

CW: Bi erasure, brief mention of abuse

For me, there is no one coming out “story” to tell, no one defining moment that I can say I was out and proud. Because I am constantly forced to coming out over and over again. I mean, everyone is in a way, you are always meeting new people and joining new social groups. But for me, I come out almost on a weekly basis to my family and friends who should really have this information in by now. Why? Because I didn’t come out as gay, I came out as bisexual.

Coming out isn’t always as intense as it is portrayed as being.

By:Abraham Blake

I was the tender age of 4 years old when I developed my first crush. I knew that sometimes people felt differently about some people then they did about others, that’s why we have Mommies and Daddies, but this was different. My crush was on a boy. I lived in a small house in a village of less than 100 people located in the Arsehole of Co. Mayo and so, as you can imagine, I HAD NO F*CKING IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON.

“I feel a sense of belonging here that I haven’t yet found anywhere else”

By Anonymous

TW: mentions mental illness, homophobia, bullying

I was about 15 when I came to the realisation that I definitely wasn’t straight. From about the age of about thirteen, I had crushes on both girls and boys, but only the crushes on boys were ever acted upon. I thought that everyone had crushes on girls, seeing as all the magazines like ‘Shout’ etc. talked about ‘girl crushes’ all the time. Everyone looks at girls and wants to hold their hand right? I didn’t even realise what the word bisexual meant until I read another article in a teen magazine talking about girls kissing their friends but not being a lesbian or bisexual-identifying person. I then thought: “Wait people kiss boys AND girls?!”