Firstly, let me know if I should move this topic to a more appropriate community.
I started my transition over a half decade ago. This was going to be the year where I was going to finally put myself out there and start dating. I used to be attracted to women, at least I thought I was. Recently I slept with a trans-woman. She was cute and really attractive and the whole experience was...well it was alright. That was it.
Compared that to a cuddle session I had with a guy. I never felt more turned on in my life and we didn't even go anywhere or do anything beyond cuddle for three hours.
I want to try dating men, but I am terrified of them. I was raised to be terrified of them, and it didn't help that my mom exposed me to a bunch of true crime crap and I ate all that stuff up.
All I read about was the horrible things that sick men would do to people. What also didn't help was my fucked up pseudo-catholic upbringing that taught me that men were monsters that couldn't control themselves. I was taught that gay men were dirty, disease ridden, and clownish. Even though I know this isn't true, these awful preconceptions have stuck around. It's hurt my self esteem as well, and I still struggle as identifying as gay because I don't want to be grouped in with -those people-. I realize that this is toxic behavior and it's making me miserable.
Now that we live in these times, I'm extra scared to put myself out there. I'm also about to hit the bad side of my thirties and I can't wait any longer to be myself. What can I do to rid myself of these awful misconceptions about men, where can I meet like-minded men, and what can I do to mitigate risk?
I think for many people our conception of our identity is so strong that if we have to reassess at some point in our lives, it can involve some growing pains. If I were to have sexual feelings for a woman, I would be pretty upset at this point in my life, and I would have a hard time saying “I guess I’m bi now.” Some people take it in stride more than others, and that’s ok. But it’s also ok to just take time with it. You’re allowed to experiment at any time in your life, basically.
As for queer media, it can be such a mixed bag. A lot of what’s made today is aimed at teens and twentysomethings, it feels like. Good for them, but less interesting to me. I tend to like movies that show men who are affectionate rather than stories that are heavily focused on being gay, but that can be an idiosyncratic thing; what works for me might not hit you in the same way.
In college, I remember being floored when I took an elective on Alfred Hitchcock films and found out that he’d made multiple movies that feature gay men (Rope, North by Northwest, Strangers on a Train, etc). At the time, I’d still internalized the cultural fiction that no one really knew about or acknowledged queer people up until the ‘60s or so. His gay men are villains, of course, but you couldn’t have the movies without them. Anyway, I feel like I’ve gotten a lot out of realizing that there is a queer historical continuity that we are often unaware of, and knowing more about it helps to remind me that we have a place in the world as much as anyone.