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At my age, 23, I couldn?t be happier to be Out and married to the love of my life. The process of coming out was another story. I knew all of my life that I?ve been majorly attracted to women, and also had a pseudo girlfriend when I was in the 6th grade, but we never spoke about the things we did behind closed doors.
Most of my childhood and early teen years I was very much into playing basketball, literally, every day.
When high school was approaching I saw it as an opportunity to try something new, so I tried out for the cheerleading team. I didn?t really try hard, but I actually made the team. Keep in mind I was a little butchie banana.
Teen Lesbian Crush
That freshman year was very difficult for me, as I had a very big crush on this girl wrestler who was Out and proud. This was hard for me to grasp, being Out and proud. I grew up in a home where it was not really accepted, and the people at my school didn?t seem so understanding.
After tons of self-searching, I finally admitted to myself that yes, I was a lesbian, and no, I wasn?t ready to come out yet. I mean come on, I?m on the cheerleading squad I would NEVER hear the end of it.
Nikki is Outed
I only confided in two people before I left town for a school trip to New York. When I returned, everyone started staring at me and whispering behind my back. I discovered I was Outed at lunch from a stranger, asking me if it was true if I was really gay. The cat was out of the bag.
The Lesbian Cheerleader
I then became the theme of the rumor mill at school, and was constantly ridiculed and teased because I was a lesbian cheerleader. After a while I started standing up for myself, and started getting more respect from people who thought it was ?cool? to be yourself.
Out and Proud
After that I was Out and proud, and started becoming an activist for gay rights. I even tried to start a GLBT youth group at school but the principal denied the request for ?ethical? reasons, but I still fought it kicking and screaming.
Most Unique
People even confided in me about their fear of coming out and I gave support whenever I could. In the end, me and my best friend (who was also Out), became sort of the poster teens for queers at our school. We both even got voted ?Most Unique? under class favorites for our senior yearbook. In the end I guess being ?Outed? wasn?t so terrible. I don?t know if I would?ve had the guts back then to do it myself. Thank you for reading my story!
Nikki C., Albuquerque, NM
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