Changing

Last night, my school's GSA had it's biannual dance. I know, how popular could an LGBT dance be on a college campus be? Well, actually, this dance is maybe one of the biggest and most popular parties every semester. Tons of people come, and not just the LGBT kids on campus. We get lots of straight students, we get some high school students (you have to be 16 or older to get in) and older people as well. It's actually a lot of fun. It's held in this giant warehouse off campus. There's a giant dance stage in the middle, and tables off to the side. At the beginning, there are condoms spread over the tables. Those get taken pretty quickly lol (one will inevitably get blown up like a balloon and thrown around like a beach ball). Anyway, after the dance is half over, a drag show begins. There are these 2 professionals who always come down. They're pretty amazing. Amateurs also come up to perform at this time. My friends and I were right up next to one side of the stage, and they kept trying to get me to give ther a dollar, but I was a little afraid of what she'd do. One time, my ex gay them a dollar, and she shoved his head under her skirt. That'd be a little much for me.

Anyway, main point of this post: I bumped into my old lab partner there. When we were partners, he identified as straight. He was overall a really angry and impatient kid, but other than that he showed no reason to believe that he was gay. He talked about girls, had no problem with me talking about guys, showed no signs of being homophobic or even uncomfortable around me or anything. He was also a pretty masculine guy in both voice and mannerisms. At the dance, however, I saw him and this other guy and they were basically all over each other. At first, I thought, wow didn't see that coming but good for him for coming out! That's great! However, I noticed something that really bothered me. His personality and mannerisms seemed completely different. He didn't seem angry anymore, but he also seemed to act really flamboyant. It could've just been that he was drinking, lol.

I don't know how I feel about people changing who they are once they come out. I can understand not being angry all the time anymore, but the flamboyant part seemed to come out of nowhere. I guess I shouldn't complain though. I know I changed a lot before I came out. When I was in the closet, I was a very timid and reserved kid. I was really awkward and unsure of myself. But anfter I came out, I got a huge confidence boost, and I becaome more outgoing, confident and outspoken. But that wasn't really a "change," that was just me showing more of who I really was. Maybe it's the same with my lab partner. Maybe he really was this flamboyant guy all along, and now he's showing it now that he's out.

If anyone's reading this, do you guys have any experience with people changing after coming out?