We come up with a thousand scenarios when we imagine how our friends will react to us revealing that we like girls. We prepare for the worst, often needlessly. Larrissa tells us one of those stories.
I met five of my friends for some cooking in the fall of 2013. We were all 16-17-year-olds at the time, at the beginning of high school. The group could see that something was weighing me down for months; I had a problem I was not sharing with them. As time went by and the pizza got ready, the casual conversation turned serious. After a long silence, they told me that they could see something was wrong. They hoped I would tell them and that they could help.
I could not say a word, I did not know how they would react if I told them I liked a girl, being a girl myself. Once I calmed down and was able to gather myself, I told them I am a bisexual, perhaps a lesbian. While I was telling them about my feelings, I was looking down; I did not have the courage to look at them. When I finished what I had to say and looked up, they were all grinning. I could not understand, until one of them spoke:
“Is that all? We knew that all along!”
I could not comprehend it; I could not believe that that was the reaction to my first coming out. Another friend continued:
“To be honest… we thought you are pregnant,” she laughed. “We did not know what the problem was but we all thought you are expecting a baby,” she continued to laugh, then hugged me.
From that day, we became closer, I was able to open up to them and they relaxed that I was not having a baby at such a young age.
I wish you all a similarly joyful coming out!
Larissa von Colt
Translated by Lilla Berényi
