Sexual identity:Sexual health:
Sexual Health is about being able to enjoy your sexuality in a way that also protects your health and well-being. The best way to protect your own and your partner's sexual health is to practise safer sex. Safer sex means knowing the risk you face. It also means taking steps to reduce your chances of getting or passing on a sexually transmitted infection or having an unplanned pregnancy.
Sexual Identity at College:
(LGB) stands for Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual. Many LGB students see college as their first opportunity to be open about their sexuality. Being out at home may not have been an option they felt they had, due to fear of a negative reaction from parents, family or friends. Negative reactions are based on fear and lack of knowledge: people don't understand being Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual and therefore fear what they don't understand. Homosexuality and bisexuality are just different to heterosexuality and difference is not automatically a bad thing!
At college, LGB students have to decide whether or not to be "out" about their sexuality. This does not necessarily infer being ashamed of being Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual but is because society assumes everyone is heterosexual. How many straight students ever have to come out to their parents? LGB students come out in order to be themselves, not what society assumes they are.
They do it to be honest to avoid the exhausting and often painful process of being "in the closet".
Coming out:
The process of coming out is what you make it and can depend on the situation. You can stand in the middle of your campus, if you like, and scream "I'm gay!", you can tell friends or colleagues out the blue or you can just let it come out naturally in conversation, "Yeah, that concert was excellent - my boyfriend/girlfriend managed to get tickets". When you do come out, you can experience a variety of reactions.
- Positive: it's not seen as anything out of the ordinary, people are supportive.
- Negative: people are shocked, treat you as a different person. Unfortunately, you have to be prepared for a bad reaction, even a violent one, because they still sometimes happen.
Therefore it is vital to carefully weigh up the pros and cons of telling particular people and have a plan of action in case things go badly: have a supportive friend with you, arrange alternative accommodation. When you come out to someone, you may be the first LGB person they have ever met and they may have questions they want to ask. It's a very positive thing to promote understanding of homosexuality and bisexuality but remember: at the end of the day, your sexuality and sex life is personal.
Just because people find being Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual fascinating does not give them the right to violate your privacy.
A final word on coming out: it is up to the individual - you should come out because you want to, not because someone else thinks you should.
For further information and advice please follow the links below:
