things everyone should give another look

Page 5 The Purple and Gold, February 14, 2002
Lifestyle Section
"My Life, My Side of the Story"
By an OHS Student

A lot of things have changed since elementary and middle school. Some of us have matured, and well, some of us have stayed the same, very immature, still. Our opinions about the opposite sex have changed. We see them through different eyes. Dating is a wonderful field to explore. You get to know others on a different level of friendship. I have been exploring this part of my life, but from a different perspective.
I am bisexual. I like both sexes, but I have a very strong liking for women. Some people find this very gross, since I too am a woman. I don't find it disgusting. I decided to come out of the "closet or" "dresser drawer," whatever you may call it. All of my friends know about my sexual preferences. Most of them are cool with it. They have a little saying "whatever floats your boat". One of my friends was a homophobic person, and it was very hard to tell them because of this. Afterwards, they confronted me about this, and they were very shocked. But, their feelings for me haven't changed a bit. You judge people by their personality not their sexuality.
A lot of people ask me questions about being "BI". I don't mind answering them. "What made you become like this? I don't believe you're just born like this". Well, that's a very hard question. The thing I believe is that you are born with a sexual preference. Mine just happens to be both sexes. I realized I was like this when I was in middle school. It kind of hit me pretty hard when I started to think "Wow! That girl looks hot!" At first, I was confused, but not anymore. Another question that somne asked me is, "Do you feel weird going into the girls bathroom?" Well, not really! Sometimes yes. That does not mean that when I am in there I check everyone out because I don't! What I mean is that there are some people other than my friends that know about me being "BI, " and they don't feel comfortable around me, which makes me very uncomfortable too.
"Do your parents know?" No! They don't know yet. I think that my mother may know, but I'm not sure. This is why I wish to stay anonymous, at least until my parents know. It's very hard to just come clean!
There are alot of people who don't agree with homosexuality. Their ideas of it are that it is a lifestyle full of drugs and sinning. From my point of view you don't have to agree with it, only understand that we are all individuals and that it is how we choose to be. I do not do any drugs, and in a way we are all sinners in one form or another. There are a lot of students right here in our school that are gay, lesbians, and bisexuals. I am not a different person because I am bisexual; I remain the same, I'm just like everyone else.
Many people also find it grosser to see two men together as opposed to two women. The thing is that they are both forms of homosexuality. If you can understand one form of it, then why can't you undertsand the other form? There are a lot of bad things that have come out of the idea of only agreeing with lesbians. We have seen the hate crimes and all the violence aainst homosexuals, especially men.
This has also affected my friendships. I have lost a very nice friend who stopped being my friend because of the rumors going around that we were involved. I loive her dearly, but only as a friend. She knows who she is, and hopefully one day she will find it in her ehart to maybe give our friendship a second chance.
Well, I believe I have written too much. I take my leave, but always remember to keep your minds open. Be Open-minded because the world is a big place. There will always be something you don't agree with.