I am a young Black man living in Boston. I grew up as a regular guy. By the time I was eighteen, I was over six feet tall and excelled at everything from basketball to football and wrestling. I was a pretty good student. My parents were hard-working poor black people and I wanted to make them proud by getting a good education and making something out of myself. I focused on sports and academics. I didn't focus on dating or relationships, unlike most young people in high school.
When I started college back in 2002, I was still a virgin. I was shy with girls. I also felt shy around attractive guys but I didn't let it show. Again, I focused on academics and sports and repressed my feelings. I was going to a state university and I didn't want other people to figure out that I was not exactly straight. For some time, I had been struggling with the fact that I might be bisexual. I caught myself checking out curvy black and Hispanic girls while walking around but I was also looking at some young black men.
I didn't have any experiences sexually until I met Adrienne. Adrienne was this tomboy at school. She was on the women's basketball team. A tall, pretty biracial girl. We had a lot in common. Academically driven athletes who wanted to succeed. She was the first girl I kissed and also the first girl I ever had sex with. The first time we did it, I was happy. I was pleased to know that I could do it with a girl. I thought I was a regular guy. I did not want to be gay or bisexual. My preacher at school said that gay people weren't allowed in church and it made me feel guilty.
I met Marco shortly after I met Adrienne. Marco was a good-looking white footballer. He was popular with girls and dated a sexy model named Karen. Marco was also bisexual but he didn't let anyone know. We became friends. I hung out with him often. Adrienne and I drifted apart and eventually broke up. One night after the breakup, Marco and I did it. We had sex.
There was this girl named Laura who liked me. She was friends with Marco. I didn't like her but she wanted me. She started following me around and eventually caught me and Marco kissing when we thought we were alone. The next day, people started looking at me funny. They thought I was gay since rumors were floating around. Marco got scared and stopped talking to me. He denied the rumors. So did I.
After a while, people at school forgot about it but my family found out, thanks to a phone call from Laura. My father and mother were mad at me. I felt angry and ashamed. They were going on and on about how they thought homosexuality was an evil sin.
I got angry and said : " I'm one of them, so what?" They looked at me, shocked.