A recent Reddit post has sparked a debate regarding a person’s right to express concern about someone’s sexual orientation. Here’s the full story.
Affairs of the Heart Became Interesting
The Original Poster’s (OP) best friend, Shiv, and another friend, Wesley, are currently dating. They are gay and they began dating in high school. Currently, the trio is attending the same college away from home.
OP shared a story about when this romance began two years ago.
At first, OP had a lot of questions about Wesley’s motivations. OP assumed he wouldn’t come out because, after all, he was a popular guy and the most well-liked boy in OP’s class.
Then, however, he came out and publicly began dating Shiv, kissing before class and all that. He had a good reputation before coming out, and that didn’t alter.
LGBTQ+ Was Cool at Their School
This was when things became interesting.
After Wesley came out as gay, many other friends of OP mistakenly believed that they were non-binary, trans or gay, but soon discovered they weren’t.
It was as though being queer had become hip and popular at OP’s school. Nearly everyone who wasn’t really LGBTQ+ was coming out.
Things became more exciting when Wesley and Shiv eventually founded a LGBTQ+ club at their school because there wasn’t one before.
So They Created a Popular LGBTQ+ Club
Suddenly, the LGBTQ+ club was the “cool” place to be.
At this time, Shiv’s younger sister told OP that she wished she was bi and that she had a strong desire to join the LGBTQ+ community. But, she didn’t join the club because she was straight.
Fast forward to today. When OP, Wesley, and Shiv returned home for holidays from college, OP found out that she is now in charge of the LGBTQ+ club. She revealed that she was bi and had a girlfriend.
OP was shocked to hear this because she thought she was straight.
He Didn’t Think She Was Bi
Everyone praised and congratulated her, but OP refrained from it until he spoke with her privately.
Later, OP approached her privately and expressed his concerns. OP told her that he doesn’t think she was bi, and he thought she was just forcing herself to be like her brother and it would hurt her in the end.
As a result, she got really angry and pointed out that she told OP she wished she was bi years ago.
She said she was bi then but didn’t realize it because it was a slow burn, different from what her brother experienced, so it took her longer to realize she liked girls.
But Claimed She Was for Effect
However, OP was skeptical, and then she accused OP of homophobia, adding that if she were dating a male, OP wouldn’t be questioned and that OP is not permitted to do so as a straight person.
She then told Wesley about what happened and he became furious at OP.
He advised OP to keep his mouth shut, that being gay is challenging, and that OP shouldn’t have questioned her.
He claimed that although everything worked out, coming out wasn’t easy for him and that he was afraid of what his friends would say.
“You Don’t Get To Have an Opinion”
OP felt bad about what happened and he took to Reddit to ask for opinions. Several Redditors said that OP was wrong for what he said.
One Reddit user wrote, “Even if you think she isn’t Bi, you aren’t her and you never know. Plus you mentioned she has a gf, which to me means she likes girls… And the fact that you think she did it because of her brother. Maybe her brother just gave her the confidence to come out. The reality is you aren’t her and you don’t know how she is feeling so you don’t get to have an opinion.”
“If She Says She’s Bi, Let Her Be Bi”
Another Redditor pointed out that OP is wrong for not only deciding that he knows someone else’s sexuality/sexual identity better than they do but then being ridiculously condescending about it to her.
A third Reddit user commented, “Why does it matter to you? If she says she’s bi let her be bi you’re not in her head and young people experiment all the time. Let her figure it out for herself. She doesn’t need your approval and didn’t ask for it.”
So what do you think?
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The post She Said She Was Bi Because LGBTQ+ Was Cool at Their School. Is It Okay To Pretend To Be LGBTQ+ for Attention? first appeared on The Net Worth Of.
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Source: Reddit