If You Grew Up Queer In A Straight Household, How Were You Treated Differently Than Your Siblings?

Happy Pride, y'all! Whether your road to getting here was a struggle or one of open acceptance, it's wonderful to be at this point. Though we're living in tumultuous times, with the lives of queer folk constantly fighting against laws that are still aiming to restrict our livelihoods, it's important to acknowledge where we come from so as not to repeat those difficult histories. So, in the interest of looking back, I started thinking about my upbringing as a gay boy growing up in south Texas in the late '80s/early '90s.

Growing up as the youngest of three, I often rejected the roads laid before me by my straight siblings. I quit baseball after 1.5 seasons, opting to play with Barbies and twirl in my mom's long shirts rather than don a helmet and hit balls into trees. Because of this, I often had a strained relationship with my father (which has since been mended once I became an adult) because he didn't know how to deal with having a queer son, didn't know how to explore what the journey would be like for me, or have the capacity to truly understand the queer experience. So he opted to be distant and let me figure it out on my own, which in turn, made me feel as if he didn't care about me.

So, like Miss Carrie Bradshaw, I couldn't help but wonder if other queer folks out in the world had similar experiences?

Did you find yourself constantly fighting with your siblings because of your queerness, whether you were out or not? Or did you find that your straight siblings received preferential treatment?

Did you have a parent who ignored you because they didn't understand or condone your queerness? Or rather, did you have a parent that wanted to be too involved in your identity and was constantly trying to talk to you in order to understand you more?

Whether your experience was good or bad we want to know! Feel free to comment below (or via this Google form if you'd prefer to remain anonymous) and your answer could be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post!

Happy Pride! Looking for more ways to get involved? Check out all of BuzzFeed's posts celebrating Pride 2023.