I grew up closeted queer (trans and ace) and the only non-queer facet of me that I could also describe as closeted was my religion. I grew up in a very Baptist area and I was not any flavor of Baptist. I was Catholic in a county with maybe 0.3% Catholics. My classmates were all about Bible camp and questioned whether Catholics were even Christians. You better believe I masked as generic Christian.
Then I went to college several states away and figured out I could just be as queer and agnostic as I felt.
Edit: saying yes, non-queer folk can grow up closeted and masking, but it’s not the same as just figuring out who you are as you age. There’s fear and hiding yourself for safety’s sake.
I grew up closeted queer (trans and ace) and the only non-queer facet of me that I could also describe as closeted was my religion. I grew up in a very Baptist area and I was not any flavor of Baptist. I was Catholic in a county with maybe 0.3% Catholics. My classmates were all about Bible camp and questioned whether Catholics were even Christians. You better believe I masked as generic Christian.
Then I went to college several states away and figured out I could just be as queer and agnostic as I felt.
Edit: saying yes, non-queer folk can grow up closeted and masking, but it’s not the same as just figuring out who you are as you age. There’s fear and hiding yourself for safety’s sake.