Skip to main content

Support Promote Advocate

for Borderline Personality Disorder

Illustration of people sitting and standing

New here?

Chat with other people who 'Get it'

with health professionals in the background to make sure everything is safe and supportive.

Register

Have an account?
Login

cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Looking after ourselves

Whiteknight
Senior Contributor

Sexuality- a jigsaw piece

We can be excused, many of us that are hetrosexual, to disregard or not think much about people in the LBGTIQ category. These people are just as valuable and important than the rest of us.

 

Sadly however, some of us avoid them in public places, feel uncomfortable for often an inground perception from childhood. I say that because, as a 62yo man I grew up in the era of homosexual disgust and abuse from myself and my ADF colleagues at the time.

 

I have a distant friend that "came out" as a transgender two years ago. He has been with his wife for 12 years. On his second date he told her of his sexuality, effectively exposed himself as not being what she thought he was- hetrosexual. She accepted that and helped him for many years find the courage to come out. That transformation has taken me and some of our friends time to adapt. We could not possibly overnight call our friend by his new female name nor fully absorb his new attire...but it became easier as time went on. Imagine his apprehension from blokey bloke to the real internal person...feminine girl.

 

But however we react or struggle to accept LGBTIQ members of the public, they are just as much a full member as anyone else. They deserve our support and we have a responsibility to them to reduce their mental struggles as much as possible, as we like others helping us with ours.

 

In the world of 9 billion people....they are a jigsaw piece like we are. Without them we as a society are never complete and they are lost when not connected. Love all people, give....give....and give some more.

WK

4 REPLIES 4

Re: Sexuality- a jigsaw piece

Hey @Whiteknight

 

Thanks for your post. I agree that people who are not LGBTIQ often find little occasion to think about some of the things that affect the LGBTIQ community/ies. These topics are brought to light more often now than they had been in the past, and can mean that people have to learn a whole bunch of information all at once to keep up with the topics. Which can certainly be confronting and difficult to handle.

 

Just a couple of wording things I'd like to point out in your post, if you don't mind - just for information, I'm not trying to be confrontational but rather to inform anyone reading this thread... Hopefully it comes across with the right intent:

Content/trigger warning
- What pronouns has your distant friend requested that you use for them? I'm wondering this because it's important to use the pronouns that make sense to them. Obviously I don't know your friend so am not sure if they are comfortable using "he/his/him" while being a transgender woman, but it might be useful to clarify.
- The word "sexuality" is typically used in a separate (although unavoidably linked) way to the word "gender". For the most part, a person who comes out as transgender may only be changing their sexuality as a secondary effect.
E.g. if a person who was originally perceived to be male (gender) and attracted to women and heterosexual (sexuality) comes out as transgender they may be a woman (gender) and still attracted to women but gay/lesbian (sexuality). Of course, they may identify differently too so it's up to the person to define it for themselves.

Anyway, I appreciate the post. We never truly know what anyone is experiencing and it's useful to deal with all people with kindness and respect.

Re: Sexuality- a jigsaw piece

Thankyou @TheVorticon. No offence taken. Frankly Im not gender savvy or terminology savvy at all. Anyway, I like to spread the love and you do to.

Re: Sexuality- a jigsaw piece

@Whiteknight I’m trans and also appreciate your post.

 

peace ~

Re: Sexuality- a jigsaw piece

Thankyou @-Rayne-

All the best for you.

WK

Illustration of people sitting and standing

New here?

Chat with other people who 'Get it'

with health professionals in the background to make sure everything is safe and supportive.

Register

Have an account?
Login

For urgent assistance

privacy statement | disclaimer | contact | Australian BPD Foundation Limited ABN: 83 163 173 439

We acknowledge and respect the traditional custodians of these ancestral lands. We acknowledge the deep feelings of attachment and relationship of Aboriginal people to country.