I would like to say thank you.

[F4lconF16]

I'm not really sure how to start this, but I wanted to say thank you to all of the regulars here for what you do. Though this is just an internet discussion board, it has real effects on real people, and one of those people is me.

I've been a feminist all my life; my mother was an electrical engineer, a profession that is dominated by men. She raised me to think that there wasn't anything a man could do that a woman couldn't do just as well, and she was a great example. She taught me not to refer to women as girls and not infantalize (pretty sure that's a word, google spellcheck) them. She taught me to look at a woman not as separate from and equal to a man but instead as just another person. She taught me to be aware as much as I could be of my privileges as a man, and to work to help stop discrimination against women. I'm thankful she taught me all of this, and it's something that I will be grateful to her for a long time.

When I began reading DU about a year and a half ago, one of the first groups I homed in on was this one. Something here resonated with me, and I've loved reading the posts and discussions on this board since. I always liked learning from my mother, and this was another place to continue that learning. I have a ton of respect for all of you; I've watched you argue and fight on here every day for the rights of women and equality, and I've learned far more than I imagined I would. I don't post often here; 95% of the time I think I will post something, I instead keep my mouth shut and listen, and I'm glad I have. Some of my views have changed, and I now have ideas and interests that I never used to. You inspired me to become more vocal in my feminism among my friends and with other people I know, and you helped me to talk to and understand my best friend and girlfriend, a woman who has been through hell with an abusive and rapist ex. You already had an incredibly positive effect on my life.

But what I really wanted to thank you for was this: I've been struggling to figure out who I am. A few months ago, I first realized I might be attracted to men as well as women. It was a possibility I simply had never really thought about before, but as I thought about it, I realized it might be true. I had nothing against the idea, but it was a foreign one. The idea of liking a guy was just alien. Since I didn't really understand the feelings, I just kinda discarded them and didn't worry about them. Then, I forget when, but I read something I think either ismnotwasm or seabeyond posted, and it changed my life. It was a pretty simple idea, and I already mentioned it: women are people too. Now, that's something I've known all my life, and it wasn't news to me. But for some reason, when reading that post, I realized that the opposite was true too: so are men. We're all people. Just people. We're all a bunch of humans, and it doesn't make a damn difference whether our genitals are on the inside or the outside or stuck to our foreheads or not there at all. And I realized that I don't care whether someone I love or am attracted to is a man or a woman. If I like them, that's enough for me.

Realizing my bisexuality has been a huge change for me, and I'm still trying to process it. While I haven't talked to many people about it yet because I'm still confused, I'm learning to embrace it. I'm starting to understand myself better, and I'm loving it.

While that one post might not have affected me much, the cumulative effect of all that I read here did. It's changed me forever, and I will be grateful for that as long as I live. Thank you for all you say and do here. Thank you, so much.

-Jeff