LGBTQIA+ Thread • Page 5

Yeah, totally. Actually addressing these feelings is relatively new, I think you're definitely right that focusing on working out yourself is better than fitting in to some idea. It's strange but it's very refreshing.

Thanks for the warm replies, thread. You're a nice thread

 

I'm really hoping that I'm feeling brave enough to participate in some pride stuff this year. Last year I was only out to like two people and I was full of anxiety about it. I really want to make some friends in the queer community here but I'm shit at making friends and I don't know the best way to jump into it.

 

Where do you live? Is there a big pride celebration there? @mad

 

Halifax, Nova Scotia. Smallish city on the east coast of Canada.
We have pride week that has a lot of events and a parade. I think it'll be easier to go this year since I'm out to more people, so I can ask my friends to come with me for support.

 

I'm in Sydney and it's like, shit. Nobody here is really trying to understand if they're not directly affected. I've always wanted to join in pride celebrations too, despite none of my friends actually knowing I'm queer/bisexual, but it's so hard around here because everybody is a dolt.

Hope you find the support you need

 

Never thought I'd find a caper on these boards! You should come down for pride if you can! Last year someone from RuPaul's drag race hosted a party, I heard it was wild.

 

Yeah haha I remember seeing you were from Halifax on AP and I was like woah.

I'd love to come down, it's just hard to find time off work. Might be heading down this July though for American Football (!!!) and Beach Slang (ok I guess). When do pride celebrations even begin?

 

I think pride is in July? Not sure exactly when though.
I want to go to Gridlock so badly but I don't know if I can afford to do both that and Osheaga.

 

@mad Do you have an LGBT center near you? They host events and such but there are also volunteer opportunities that are a good way to meet people

 

I'm not sure actually. I'll have to look into that.

 

Ah right! Assumed Halifax was in Canada just didn't know where. That's really cool tho I hope you do go and have a good time. Pride is usually pretty fun. This is probably my last in Dublin for a while!

 

Getting into the volunteering aspect is cool because, at least in my experience, the other volunteers are usually people that A. care about the community, B. are very inclusive and understanding, and C. are also looking for ways to meet other people and be part of the community. I have a hard time with it personally because socializing is really difficult for me, but I have a lot of friends who have benefited from it.

 

By the way, is anybody else poly/consider poly to be a minority orientation? I ask because 1) I'm pretty sure I'm poly myself and 2) I asked the same question elsewhere and the answer was generally "yes" from most individuals and was curious what you guys thought.

 

does anybody check that box confirming they're LGBT in your work diversity form? i kinda want to do it as a small statement of being out but idk how private it is, if my supervisor or the office administrator sees it or if they'd divulge it to by sending information to my permanent address :|

 

I was considering it and then I realized there are no anti-discrimination laws in PA so I didn't

 

I have to be openly gay at work because it's the only slightly interesting thing about me

 

yeah this was my concern. thanks america!

 

Hate to see it

 

I identify is bi but I honestly don't know what the difference between the two is at this point

 

I'm bi and I identified as it before I understood what pan was and that's probably more accurate but I'm attached to bi

 

i think poly is separate from bi/pan. poly refers to number of concurrent partners (ie you and your partner have an open relationship, or you do orgies, etc). bi/pan are more comparable in that in strictest theory bisexual attraction eschews non-binary, trans, etc. folks while pan attraction is less restrictive but i've never met a bi person, myself included, who felt A) that bisexuality SHOULD eschew those kinds of attractions (and in fact it seems we tend to view it as reductive and potentially transphobic) and B) that they were strictly bisexual rather than pansexual if such restrictions were firmly held. but, most people who fall under those two perspectives - again, myself included - feel that the two are ultimately equivalent but since a lot of people barely even understand or believe us when we say we're bi, saying we're pan will jsut turn more people against us because we're "making up labels" or whatever.

messy answer, hopefully that makes sense. i don't want to speak for other bi folks as a result but in general i've seen that there's not a big difference between bi and pan, people use bi for simplicity's sake, in theory there could be a difference between bi/pan but it's one that i personally side-eye a little bit as risking transphobia as well as one that i've basically never actually seen someone hold to (but they very well could exist ofc).

 

So to the first point, I wasn't sure if you meant poly as in polyamorous or polysexual. I've heard poly to refer to people who aren't monosexual (hetero or gay), but I've also heard it to refer to people who have multiple concurrent partners

I also completely agree about the bi/pan debate

 

For the record lemme just say that for whatever reason I read poly as pan and I'm sorry D:

 

huh okay! i've personally only ever heard poly to mean polyamorous - i actually had no idea that there was a specific word to describe the idea that bisexuality is fluid and in the middle of the spectrum - so that's interesting. dunno which Gwen was referring to, then - i guess that would inform the discussion better than my assumption haha.

 

yah i figured. but trust me i jump at every opportunity to talk about bi/pan identities so :*