Undeniably Me // Love, Simon Entry 2018 #lovesimon

Entry

Dear World,
I've always hoped that all people would be accepted for who they are and what they believed. And in my life, I'm surrounded by so many diverse, unique individuals that speak their minds and accept themselves. They've helped me believe in myself and my feelings.
I've always known I was different, that I felt different. From about the second grade, I've had mixed emotions about both sexes. I thought girls were beautiful and lovely. Boys, I felt, were handsome and silly. It confused me and I doubted myself ever since. When I got to older grades, such as fifth, I started investing time into discovering what I was feeling.
My feelings kept changing and I was wondering whether it was a "phase" that I would grow out of or not. Once my emotions for both genders grew stronger, I realized something was even more abnormal about me. I looked it up and decided I was bisexual. For about a year, I labeled myself "bisexual" and I explored with newfound bisexuality.
When I turn 12, I got a crush on a person that didn't identity with anything and I was really confused. "What does that make me," I thought. I did even more research and after about a year of discovery, came to the conclusion that I am pansexual.
I came out to my mom and it was very freeing, and horrifying. She was shocked, but still accepted me. Because of this, I knew that it was okay to be myself. I've still got a long way to go and still have a lot of self-discovery and many new experiences in my future. But for right now, I am very happily in love with my beautiful girlfriend. I've come to love my sexuality and my abnormalities. They make me who I am. It's okay to be gay, it's okay to be yourself, and it's okay to be scared. But never let anyone knock you down or discriminate against you, I know from experience.
Love, EAL2005 (Emily)