I grew up in a rather small European town, where no one ever talked about gay/lesbian people. It wasn't an option, not because it was wrong or unacceptable. Pedople simply assumed that everyone was straight, and if someone wasn't then that was their thing. People just stayed out of each others personal business.
When I was 12, my family and I moved to US. For a few years I couldn't attend school so I spent most of my time learning English and hanging out with a friend of the family. I was 12 at that time and he was 38 (a kind of unlikely friendship). After getting to know him better I wondered why he didn't have a girlfriend, so I asked him and he answered, "I'm gay".
What surprised me was my reaction to him being gay. I never thought, "ewww that's gross" or something of that sort. I was simply happy for him, and that's because I didn't grow up in the society where people criticized something they knew nothing or very little about. Thinking of something "new" didn't scare them, like it scares so many here.
Over time this friend of the family and I became great friends, and one night talking about gay issues, something in me just clicked and I began to wonder if maybe I was a lesbian. The thought of that didn't freak me out, I was kind of excited to find out something new about myself, and hey if I turn out to be a lesbian then really, what is so wrong about that!? I was 13 at that time.
When I was 14 I started this small alternative school where everyone knew one another. Over time I developed a crush on one of my friends. I tried to express my feelings to her but could never make myself actually do it, so instead I wrote letters describing my feelings and desire for her. Those letters were never meant to be seen by her, I wrote them to relieve my burden. I was never ashamed of who I was. I was more scared of my friends' reaction.
I needed to have friends. At that time, I had no idea how this society perceived gays and lesbians, so I just kept this part of myself to myself. Anyway, a year or so later and I still drooled over that same girl.
One night I went over to a friend of mine for a sleep over. We had fun, everything was great. Next day her and I were getting ready to go shopping so we leave and about an hour later I realized I forgot my backpack at her house. She said not to worry about it, she'll bring it with her to school tomorrow.
So anyways, the next night my 'crush' was spending a night at that same friend's house.
*fast forward to the next day*
I arrived to school very early and as I'm walking down the hall I saw a friend of mine walk in (she was the only person who knew about me being a lesbian, beside my 38yo friend). As she walked in, her first words were the words I'll never forget: "They know!"
I was like, "They know what?"
"That you are gay" she said.
At that moment I just went in shock and all she said to me was how they found the letter in my backpack, the one addressed to the girl I liked.
To make long story short, for the next week or so I got called every name in the book, lost all my friends, the principal found out and my parents were called in. The only person I could talk to at that time was my family friend, who told me tomorrow I was going to put myself in the best mood I could and wear the hottest clothes I had. I was going to walk in that classroom with my chin up and I was going to ignore every remark that comes my way...
So next day that is exactly what I did and it was great. I remember the look on everyone's face, like "what happened to her?"
I'm 18 now and I'm still friends with my, now 43 year old friend. I consider myself to be pretty lucky, because I never felt that being a lesbian was a negative thing.