Member-only story
Social Media was My Lifeline
Many LGBTQ+ youths out there would say the same thing.
Whether you share pictures on Instagram, scroll through Reddit, or get into politically charged arguments on Twitter, you have probably heard certain people romanticizing the past. We actually talked to each other, played sports, or even built things with our own hands. Sounds good, right? For you, it might, but for others, not so much. Your good ol’ days are someone else’s dark past, an era that they would rather move on from.
If I didn’t have social media as a closeted bisexual teen, I would have likely committed suicide. Attending a rather conservative school that seemed to pride itself in its homophobia wore on me day after day. Upon learning that I was bisexual, it seemed that my mental health took a nosedive overnight. From the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed, I was on edge. I agonized over what I would do if someone found out.
When I tried to tell my parents, they told me that I needed to work on having friends before figuring out my sexual orientation. That alone told me that I couldn’t trust them for advice or support on this pressing matter. Because they have gay friends, it was as though they chose not to understand the gravity of the situation. They still dragged me to church services that re-traumatized me every time I went. To…
