Lesbian women - do you hide your sexual preference or are you open about it?

Question

Moxie - what do you mean by the way you dress? How can you tell? Do you dress conservative?

Answer 1

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area so it is pretty safe for me to be open. However I use to live in central California where it is very conservative and I would never have told hardly anyone there. I think everyone just has to find people they are comfortable sharing that information with.

Answer 2

It really depends on the situation. If I am comfortable in my surroundings and with people that I trust and/or know to be open-minded, then I am open about it. That said, I do not shout it from the rooftops! It's ultimately a private thing, so I will only discuss my sexuality when asked, or when it is important to what I am discussing.

Mostly, I would say I am open about it, but there are always exceptions to the rule. If I feel there might be negative repercussions to disclosing such personal information, I keep it to myself.

Answer 3

Neither, I'm just me. I don't hide it, but I don't feel the need to tell everyone I come in contact with that I'm gay. If it comes up, I will talk about it. I'm not ashamed of myself, I'm pretty open and proud of who I am. But I'm also just naturally a private person. Some people will look at the way I dress and be able to tell, so I guess overall I'm open about it.

Edit: Well sometimes people can look at person and predict their gay by the way they dress. Like if a guy dresses a little "feminine" or a girl "masculine." Sometimes I dress in a way that people will look at me and guess that I'm a lesbian. I have a style that's kinda a mix of feminine and masculine, plus I don't wear my pants tight. I wear them sorta loose in the butt region. I wear ties and blazers sometimes too. Kinda preppy. So some people will be able to guess I'm a lesbian by the way I dress. So in that sense, I don't hide who I am.

Answer 4

I am bisexual, and 27, and have only just gained the confidence to admit it. I have only ever had straight relationships through fear and insecurity in the past. I have just told my boyfriend and he is basically OK about it. Most of my ex boyfriends have got bisexual sisters or have had bisexual or lesbian girlfriends who were experimenting. I am terrified of being open at work. I work with a very open bisexual girl and she has been put through so much, I feel so sorry for her and don't know if I could cope with peoples reactions like she does.

Answer 5

I am open about it, but I try to be situationally appropriate. For example, I met my girlfriend for lunch and she was already seated at a table when I came in. So, I walked over to her and gave her a little "hello" kiss before sitting down. (We live in a liberal metropolitan area.)

However, when we went to visit her mother in a small, conservative town, we tried to refrain from holding hands when we were walking in public. This was at my girlfriend's request. I respected her decision to be discreet in deference to her mother's wishes.

The good news is that we were open to her mother, and in spite of her mother's prejudices, she found that she liked me. (I was the first lesbian she'd ever met and not at all what she expected.)

Answer 6

I'm completely open about it. Why in the world would I hide something so beautiful as my sexuality? Hiding because you are ashamed is lame.

Answer 7

I am open about it, but I have to say it gets easier and easier with each person you tell, or job you have or simply as you get older and the more people you tell. I love England for that, as America sounds like a lottery as to how people react!

Answer 8

Sometimes it is weiser not to disclose out of fear of those that hate Homosexual people. It depends on the circumstances. Most likely I am open to my friends, immediate family members and in my liberal, accepting church. So , yes I will tell that I am gay if I see it is safe!

Answer 9

I don't hide unless I feel it could turn into a violent situation, working on site with a bunch of men in hard hats and you are in a suit, telling them that actually, wearing their hard hat is not negotiable or that where they have just plastered looks like crap, please re-do it.

But I am out and if people don't like it, they can just lump it.

Answer 10

No I don't hide it. I am bi, and I when I first meet someone, relationship wise, I tell them so they know what they are letting themselves in for. I don't think you should hide it because then it shows you are embarassed to be what you are and there really isn't anything to be ashamed of.

*Angel*