If you truly aren''t homophobic you wouldn't be afraid of being gay unless in very specific cases of bisexual cycling, what is the difference?
its not necessarily a fear of being queer in any way, more so that maybe the life you are living is a lie and what you thought you knew, you actually dont. for me, its terrifying that I may be a lesbian because I have a male partner and i love him, but the scary thing is "what if I'm experiencing comp het and I dont actually love him." the idea around it is still that fear a of uncertainty, but its focused on your identity and would often change the meaning of your relationships. Great question though, because HOCD often gets misunderstood and people are scared to speak out about it for fear of sounding homophobic or worried that it makes them bad person. The same thing can happen with gender identity too!
Sexual orientation OCD isn't always a straight person who's scared they might be gay. There are people on here who *are* gay and are scared they might be straight.
Yes but straight people never receive marginalization on the basis of identity, a gay person's OCD about sexuality would be from self-doubt whereas a "straight" person anxiety and shame about the possibility of being homosexual.
@HenryT I mean, I know there are people whose SOOCD is rooted in homophobia (I've encountered them on here LOL), but it's not fair to say it always is. I think it's more often about fear of one's sense of self changing and not fear of being gay.
but I am also queer, and one thing that helped me through this is to realize that I dont necessarily connect with lables, and trying to put myself into a box didn't help my need for certainty and reassurance that it was the "right" thing to call myself.
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
