You know, I know a guy that had to come out as straight.
Pretty fucking hilarious story.
Edit: decided to tell it here for ease of finding.
So, this story goes back to 1992. This was before the boom of awareness around gender and orientation, etc. That's the key to the whole thing.
My buddy is this kinda goofy kid, never really fit in well, but ends up building a friend group in high school (including me). This group is unusually chill and inclusive for the era, and included three gay guys.
My buddy and one of the gay guys (also a buddy) fall in love. After we all graduate, they move in together, and live happily ever after. To appearances anyway.
Truth is, the guy really loves his partner. But he didn't enjoy the sex. They try every combination they can think of, and it just doesn't ever satisfy them both. However, the guy could orgasm from oral, and would do hand jobs, so they made it work, because love.
But, guy ends up meeting a woman at work. Ends up cheating, and the sex was fulfilling in a way sex with his partner wasn't. He figures he's actually bi, and once they move past the betrayal, it kinda helped.
But, the entire time, everyone not aware of the details just sees them as the perfect gay couple; and the guy was out as gay to everyone. And they really were a great couple. Finish each other's sentences, silly in-jokes, outlasting every other relationship anyone in the friend group. It was only the sex that was bad. The guy's partner is increasingly feeling undesired as the sex happens less and less.
Things come to a head around 2003. The partner cheated, and they decide to open the relationship. The guy starts seeing women for sex, the partner men. This works for a while, until the guy and the partner both fall in love with other people. Now, they kept all this private. It wasn't until they broke up and started moving into their own places that anyone other than me and one other friend knew anything was wrong at all.
So, they're apart, and people are surprised, extra so since they stayed friends. The guy, however, is fielding attempts to hook him up with other guys.
And that's when he starts telling people he's hetero. Which was not met with the kind of friendliness and open minded goodwill you might expect.
His parents were upset because, one, they felt they lost a son-in-law (despite the guys not having married); and two, that they had had a bumpy road to being parents of a gay son. They weren't exactly overjoyed back when it all started. Some of the friend group were outright nasty about it, particularly one of the gay guys. His co-workers were largely unimpressed, but gossiped about it to the point that the guy quit and went elsewhere.
Hell, I was confused as all get out, and I was/am sort of the default "safe closet exit" person for my family. We had a conversation about it all, maybe three months after they split. I had known they had troubles, but the dude always said he was gay or bi, so it always seemed like things they were working on.
During that conversation, he talked about how much he loved his partner, and still did. But that it wasn't fair to either of them to keep hurting each other by not being enough for each other, and expecting each other to keep trying anyway. He said that he'd never really liked men sexually, and had never had any sexual attraction to any other men than his now ex. He went into detail that I won't share because he asked for me to never tell anyone, but suffice it to say that he tried really hard to be gay, and only gay.
So, some time passes, and he calls me out of the blue (which is rare because I'm known for not answering the phone, I check messages and call back, so ppl text me instead). He starts babbling joyous things about how he's figured it all out.
He ran across the term "pan-romantic". And it was a magic word that unlocked a lot of emotion for him, but it ended up being joyous. He is pan-romantic, but heterosexual. For him, it was proof that he wasn't just weak, or didn't love his partner enough, or a bad person, he just didn't have fully matching romantic and sexual attractions. He could love anyone, under the right circumstances. It explained how he could have crushes on guys, and girls, but only ever sexually wanted women.
Seriously, he was on the phone with me for about three hours, just venting, and vacillating through emotions.
So, yeah, he found a label, an idea that finally gave him a way of thinking about himself that didn't involve the shame and self hatred because he's straight in almost every way except being able to love anyone. Love isn't always enough, so he knows not to chase it with someone he won't be sexually attracted to.
Now, I had to ask, "dude, how were you having sex with a guy if you weren't sexually attracted to him?"
He thought that if he kept trying here and there, that maybe it would be enough. That it was his "duty" to do something, and it wasn't so bad that he couldn't do it at all, he'd just fantasize and get through it because he loved his partner.
But, yeah, dude had to fully come out, and he said it was just as nerve wracking as when he came out as gay back in the nineties, because "people thought I was joking, and then got mad because they thought I had betrayed gay people, or them by somehow changing. but I didn't change, I just didn't know."
That's the story
I sort of had that happen to me. In middle school, someone started a rumor that I was gay. This was early 90s, and I was young, so it bothered me. I was new to the district, and didn't have many friends, and being called "gay" was something bad in my mind.
But then I suddenly had a bunch of friends who were being really supportive. Some were gay, some were straight, but everyone just encouraged each other to be who they are. I learned a lot from them about acceptance and being myself. Years passed.
But none of them ever asked me if I was gay. Anyone that asked, I would say "no, I'm straight." Apparently people thought I was in denial.
But then I asked a girl out, and she was like, "Wait, but... Aren't you gay?" The look on her face is seared into my subconscious. It was a mixture of confusion, betrayal, and contempt. Like I had been pretending to be gay to worm my way into her friendship, all the while being a lecherous creep waiting to strike.
Also it turns out, one of my gay friends was working up the courage to ask me out. It was the talk of the lunch table, except they had been keeping it from me because they didn't want to embarrass our friend.
So I had to go to that friend and explain that I liked them as a friend, but I was not attracted to men. He then claimed that he wasn't interested in me, which was really fucking confusing. And then I had to clarify to everyone at the lunch table that I was, and had always been, straight. Which is weird enough, but I had also now rejected one friend and creeped on another.
Wow that's a crazy situation haha
Well, are you going to tell us the story?
Wow, that was pretty wild. Thanks for taking the time to type that out, it was well worth the wait.
No worries :)
Great story and well told. Beautiful really. Pan-romantic, I really like that. Wow there are so many gradations of sexuality and identity. I so wish we were talking about this shit when I was a kid.
So much time wasted trying to fit in the restrictive "straight" or "gay" buckets.
Still not as much as the guy in your story, but I can totally see how he could wind up in that situation given the cards dealt.
I know so many people that would have been better off with the range of definitions we have now, if only so they could self label and know what their feelings meant.
Like, demi-sexual. The folks I know that had a big aha! moment when they heard the term and its definition weren't necessarily unable to find happiness, but they were always questioning what was "wrong" with them, when it's something that's common enough that there should have been a term for it all along.
Just that, the knowledge that a person isn't alone or weird is such a powerful thing.
Wow, labels can be so stupid. I'm glad he found something that works. đź‘Ť
Jocat
I had the opposite experience, pansexual but homoromantic, neraly married a woman I thought I loved, sex was amazing and I thought what I felt was love through the eyes of an autistic person, but after she broke up with me and I finally had my first boyfriend, everything clicked.
You can't miss what you have never had, but once you discover your true self, there is no going back.
Makes total sense to me. He loved his husband and wanted him to be happy, but wasn't sexually attracted to him. But not a homophobe, so willing to try to make husband happy.
Thanks for sharing this, it was nice to read.
A friend of mine came out as straight to his parents, because he understood that this is someone one does when becoming aware of one's sexuality, and as a young teen, he had his first crush on a girl. A few years later, he came out as bi.
Edit: just finished reading your story properly and it's really sweet, thanks for sharing. I find the split model of attraction (romantic/sexual) super useful because of situations like your friend's; like many bisexuals, I had a period of being "am I ace tho? What even is attraction?" and even though I'm securely bi now so nothing has changed, I appreciate some of the terms and frameworks I've picked up from the ace community. Invisible members of the queer community solidarity!
Anon is apparently fake
andgaySpent 10 weeks with another guy and his mom paid $100/hour. They definitely engaged in gay anal sex.
The rare situation where the circles completely overlap in the Venn diagram.
Bro doesn't know he's Asexual yet. I was 25 when I found out. Also thought I might be bi growing up. It was a weird time for us adult Asexuals.
I'm 27 and seriously questioning if I'm actually gay or just some flavor of ace with an aversion to most sexual acts. I haven't had any sexual contact with a woman except for a single kiss, so I don't know if I can be sure yet. I absolutely despise the touch of men. It took 3 boyfriends to realize that men disgust me in regards to phyical/romantic/sexual contact.
What do asexuals think about when they masterbate?
A lot of asexuals who masturbate don't do it with a sexual mindset, it's more like an exercise to relieve stress or get a little boost of dopamine.
It would be like asking "what do people without food fetishes think about when eating?" Idk, whatever is on their mind. They might think about how good it feels, but they could also be thinking about something totally unrelated.
I figured out I was ace about a year or two ago. When I told a friend he said, "Yeah, everyone can tell, you're the least sexual person I've ever met."
Lol that could be taken different ways.
I'm glad people like that guy exist
What a wholesome story
4-chan greentext almost is ALWAYS trolls and things-that-never-happened.
The story is all kinds of weird shit. I do not want to know what the actual story is anyways.
Of a guy stealing $1000 and not doing the job he we hired for? Good for the kid, but it doesn't change the fact he stole $1000. And put the kid in a morally ambiguous situation of having a $300 that he knows were stolen from his parents.
Edit: I think people are missing my point. There are three options:
- Do "real" conversion therapy
- Save the kid as he did, steal $700 from the family
- Save the kid as he did (donate the money or give it to the kid)
I'm advocating for option 3, not as people seem to think, option 1.
These are the possible choices:
1.) He should've said nothing as he wasn't willing to do the conversion therapy and therefore quite possibly let the kid go to a real conversion therapy "camp" of which usually inflict lasting harm.
2.) Actually have done the conversion therapy as asked.
3.) Lie as described in the OP
You said "good for the kid" indicating that you think that conversion therapy is a bad thing but also somehow came to the conclusion that 3. is the least moral choice? What? Baffling.
Imo option 3 is basically what he did - keeping $700 means he basically took $35/hour as a babysitting fee. Not sure what’s standard for babysitting rates (child free for life), but I sure as shit wouldn’t take responsibility for a child for that much lol. The amount aside, rather than theft I see the situation as him inflating the value of the service he was providing - still a shitty thing to do in other circumstances, but one we collectively accept as not illegal theft when it’s by brand names and “luxury” stuff.
In other circumstances I’d fully agree with your point that the kid’s in a morally ambiguous situation with money he knows wasstolenscammed from his parents, but from both the kids perspectives at the time thinking anon really was gay, he was in a vulnerable position with a very real chance of being cut off by his parents and needing to support himself. That removes any ambiguity imo, even ignoring the fact that his parents are bigots who more than deserved what they got"Real" conversion therapy likely would have been damaging and more expensive. Also, that cash may have given anon some leverage to do things without his parents knowing, also a good thing in the situation described.
A bit of a scam, sure, but it's not like "real" conversion therapy isn't, while also inflicting trauma on the recipients.
Let's recontextualize this - my neighbor wants to spend $5k to remove a safety feature from their car, because they saw a dumb tick tock. Let's say it's ABS breaking, they're just absolutely convinced it's bad
Now I hear about this, and I don't want their stupidity to kill their whole family. I offer to do it for $1k, and instead I actually change their brakes.
Is this ethical? In the end, I didn't honor the words of our agreement, because it was very stupid. It would've been unethical, likely illegal, to do what they asked
I did save them money and prevent them from finding someone who would've done what they asked. I also did work on their car, just not what they thought I did. They're happy with the result, and no longer seeking to remove a system they don't understand
It depends on your ethical framework, but it seems like a stretch to call this theft. The guy in the post provided babysitting and mentorship, which is part of the agreed services. They would probably not have paid so much for what they actually got, but a certain amount of markup is needed to sell the ruse
I don't see this as stealing, as conversation therapy is a fraudulent and cruel practice in the first place. Bro actually did a form of conversion therapy in a safe and mentally supportive environment. Granted the "conversion" part may have been inadvertent, but he did help someone deal with a potentially traumatizing situation and saved him from harm. Which gave OP the time and space to really look at himself and discover who he truly is. I think that's worth the $1K that would've gone toward a far more evil practice.
Conversion therapy isn't real though; you can't make someone not be gay. From the parent's perspective, their problem is likely that they think they have a religious obligation to not accept homosexuality (perhaps their place in their community depends on this), but also want a relationship with their son, and don't want to have to choose between these. So probably what they really want is for their son to go back in the closet in a way that is plausible, and the service they are paying for offers that plausibility and creates the greatest possible chance of it happening (being nice to anon and letting him know he has an undo button without feeding him bullshit or being pushy).
So on second thought, maybe it's not unambiguously wholesome, because it is lies and could be enabling a homophobic culture. But on the other hand it's probably for the best that this sort of conflict be put off until anon is no longer a teenager who is totally dependent on their parents. Whether the money was earned honestly I think is less of a big deal here ethically, it's basically in the same category as paying for a consultation with a psychic, the sort of thing where they are all but explicitly paying for the fiction.
Amazing how just giving people time to figure it out for themselves is so effective. So glad anon realized they're ace before getting into something serious and getting hurt.
Based.
No one want to read a micro font book.
Apparently at least 90 people did.
Wow, 90 people. I stand corrected.
