Real stories from the World - LGBTQ+

Aurelia from Poland/Ireland

  Hi I'm Aurelia and I will start off as saying that this story is about both Poland and Ireland and it's really long I hope that's okay?

Poland is not a very accepting and nice place for LGBT+ folks but if you know how to find the 'right' people you'll be fine. It's a very religious place which really holds tradition and family close to its heart. 

The first time that I've heard the word 'gay' was in the primary school. Some kids were laughing at a boy who was wearing a pink shirt saying that he was gay. And I didn't really understand what was wrong with that so I just ignored it. Over the years I heard this word used as an insult for masculinity and as an accusation of someone being girly. People at my school were afraid of being called a lesbian or gay. 

When I was thirteen I had a crush on a girl and blah blah you know the rest of the story. So I got into the group of alternative kids. You meet most of them through the Internet. They probably watch anime/are emo or both, they wear clothes and make up specific for alternative kids. I know a few facebook groups that are full of people like that. Most of them are meeting up somewhere and are smoking, drinking or doing drugs. I never wanted to do those things but they didn't force me to do them so everything was okay. They meet up near the rivers and sometimes even near or in the shopping malls which results in police banning them from visting those places and calling their parents. Of course there are probably gay teenagers that don't really fit into the alternative kids group (like me I guess I never really was a part of their group but was only hanging out with them) but they are like a mystery to me because I have no idea how or where to find them. 

I think that dating as a gay teenager in Poland is not that hard not as hard as it might seem the problem is mostly in parents, families and the society. My friend who is a trans guy got ignored by his mother for a week after he came out, she still corrects everyone when they use a he/him pronouns to address him. She forced him to lie to his psychiatrist that he's a cis girl. 

My friend came out as a lesbian and her parents still expect her to find a boyfriend. They say that she's just confused and she should try finding a boyfriend instead. They also force her to wear make-up so she would find a boyfriend. 

My last psychiatrist after I came out to her said that many girls go through that phase and that I should just focus on studying. I know that there were people in my last school spreading rumours about me being a lesbian (not that far from the truth but you get the point). 

I don't really know how my parents would react, my dad is a really strong catholic but he might be really open minded since he works with many different people around the world. My mom is Russian and she asks me from time to time when will I bring a boy home. 

I'm in a quite good situation. And so I moved to Ireland recently and I thought "Oh, a country that accepted same-sex marriage and adoption, what could possibly go wrong?". Oh boy was I wrong. Okay so I think that what I saw in my school looks like a comedy. So I go to the Catholic all-girls school (one of the worst decisions in my life don't do it) and here's what happened. I heard some girls using a word 'lesbian' as an insult and then trying to start a fight to prove how straight they are. One girl refused to participate in a PE activity which involved holding hands because she's not "a [insert a swear word] lesbian". They talk all the time about how feminine they are and who they think might be a lesbian. They think that at least three of the teachers are gay because of the way they speak or walk. It's ridiculous and I'm sick of the way they act. And I'm not even living in some small village I live in Dublin for God's sake. So yeah basically this is my story.

My name on wattpad is @awrelie. I really want to get to know new people so please message me!!