My journey is a bit different from others in the LGBTQIA+ community. For one, it does not include a coming out story. Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of who I am, but it was never something that I considered groundbreaking.

Queerness, for me, was something that I considered normal. Which, of course it is, but for a lot of people, being queer is a hard thing to grasp. Fortunately, it was easy in my brain. I never liked labels, and I was pretty much attracted to anyone. I also fully believe that anyone can love more than one person at the same time. With this in mind, why would I ever think I would need to come out to anyone? Still, my insecurities do get the best of me. Sometimes I think the reason I never said anything is because I was scared of what people would think. Everyone feels that way at some point, right?

Now, I look at myself in this moment, sitting here writing my story, and I think about everything I went through and am still going through. My stories over the years somehow seem insignificant to this moment. It might be because I know this is not the end of my journey of self-discovery. It is just a new phase in my life that I have been working through. At this moment, I feel good about myself and where I am. I have given others like me a space to connect in through the club Socialize with Pride. I have gone out of my way to attend Pride events and do series like these. At this moment, I feel connected to my community.

My only suggestion for others struggling to find their own identity is to stop and realize who you are at this point in time and who you want to be in the future. Two years ago, I would have never shared my story because it seemed insignificant to me, but now I realize that it is not. Everyone has a story that is different, and they are all equally important. Who knows who you could affect?