Friend faux paw
I was hanging with a friend the other day when I met a friend of her and her husband's. He apparently took a liking to me and offered to buy me a drink, he just "wanted to buy a drink for a pretty lady." I declined because I didn't want him to get the wrong idea/lead him on. She, my friend, then came over and asked why I didn't accept his invitation, I replied that I wasn't interested in his offer, although he seemed like a great guy. She then basically tried to convince me to try dating men again, as if now will yield different results from all those times before.
This is a close friend of mine who, although her mom is gay, sometimes says some ignorant stuff about the LGBTQIA community. Typically, I try to educate/correct her, but this time she was persistent. And I was made really uncomfortable and offended.
I'm not bisexual, although I did toy with the idea whenever I first realized my attraction to women was more than platonic. But all the soul-searching always leaves me with the same answer, I'm hella gay. I tried explaining to her the difference between aesthetic attraction (something I have for men and women) and having every other type of attraction (romantic, sexual, etc) for solely women. But she wouldn't listen. This pissed me off.
All that to say: when a friend who is different from you is trying to explain something about a part of who they are, you listen and learn. Don't be an asshole.
This is a close friend of mine who, although her mom is gay, sometimes says some ignorant stuff about the LGBTQIA community. Typically, I try to educate/correct her, but this time she was persistent. And I was made really uncomfortable and offended.
I'm not bisexual, although I did toy with the idea whenever I first realized my attraction to women was more than platonic. But all the soul-searching always leaves me with the same answer, I'm hella gay. I tried explaining to her the difference between aesthetic attraction (something I have for men and women) and having every other type of attraction (romantic, sexual, etc) for solely women. But she wouldn't listen. This pissed me off.
All that to say: when a friend who is different from you is trying to explain something about a part of who they are, you listen and learn. Don't be an asshole.
We could learn so much from one another if we would be much quicker to listen and learn than to argue or try to prove our own viewpoints. I need to remind myself of that and of the fact that some of the best conversations I've ever had were when I walked away with my previous perceptions being challenged and widened.
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