Anonymous asked: I'm 18, & when I was a kid I tried to tell my mom about a boy I liked. She teased me so much that I felt ashamed of my feelings, and I've never talked about boys with her since. Now I'm in college and finding that I'm rarely, if ever, attracted to boys and am terrified of intimacy. I don't know if I am struggling with my sexuality and may be graysexual or if I'm scarred with these childhood problems. My parents also don't accept the sexuality spectrum idea. How can I get past these issues?

Your mom’s opinions do make a huge impact on your life, but I can’t say whether or not there’s a direct link to this issue. You’re in a time and your life and place where you’re trying to figure out what you like and who and how you live your life and if you like anyone at all. Don’t be scared that just because you can’t give yourself a clear definition, you’ll never be able to or you’ll never know what gender you’re attracted to. Remember that it only takes one person, regardless of their gender, and your whole life can change. It’s a huge sucky situation that your parents don’t accept what you think your sexuality may be, but there are billions of people who do accept it. I know it’s your family, and you really count on their opinions, but you make your own family in life too. Friends, college classmates, the GSA, or even professors. Once you can accept yourself and you realize that lots of people accept you, even if you don’t know what you want (most of us don’t) then you’ll probably feel more comfortable bringing it up with your family. They might still be unaccepting and that will suck, but they might surprise you. The most important thing is you and how you feel and that you need to feel free to date and love whoever you want and take your time to figure that out. You’re 18, you have your whole entire life to figure out who you want to date or if you don’t want to date anyone at all.