Emotional Fight or Flight Experience

My perspective as her best friend:
Recently in my college career a friend of mine has had a very new approach to her life. In the past I've never had an issue with individuals who were attracted to people of the same sex, I aways thought, "As long as they were happy then I'm happy for them". The only thing that I would get uncomfortable with would be when I would see a couple of the same sex kiss or produce a public display of affection, and I don't know why but in my head I always saw it as "not normal". However, my parents always taught me to accept everyone for who they are, never to judge where they came from, how they look and even their sexual orientation. So, when my best friend here at IC had a new sexual awakening I was nothing but supportive.  I guess in the time of "fight or flight" I would say I fought rather than fled. I stuck around to listen to how this new experience was for her, I was interested to hear how it developed so quickly and thought a lot about how me and my other friends never noticed the signs. Thinking about it now the signs were all there, but we never  even took that path into consideration. Now that its my best friend who is newly in a gay relationship I don't get weirded out or uncomfortable when I see gay couples show affection, it looks so natural to see two people who mean the world to each other to be happy together. I would want nothing more for my best friend.


Her perspective experiencing the emotional situation:
I grew up in a really conservative and religious town. All my friends were confirmed, as well as myself, and my parents really expressed religious ideals. Throughout high school I was constantly fighting the urge to be honest about the way I felt; I was interested in girls. It wasn't until I came to college that I allowed myself room to explore and be honest with myself. It's a rough transition going from a girl who only dated boys to being a girl in an exclusive relationship with a girl. Bringing the news home to my dad was a terrifying experience, I was worried about what he would think of me and how it would change our relationship. But I didn't walk away from the situation, I embraced it. Being open and honest about myself with the people I love and sharing an exciting and happy new experience with them makes the hardships worth it.