For a few years in my adolescence, I would think I was bi one day, gay another day, bi another day, straight another day and the cycle repeats itself. At 17 I started thinking I was bi for months because it became clear that I like males, but I was still trying to convince myself that I liked females too. Then I finally realised I had no attraction to females whatsoever, that I’m just gay. I’m not the only gay guy who has been through this.

But yeah, there are straight people who thought they were bisexual for a while, or even gay. It’s rare, but it does happen. Obviously this doesn’t invalidate the existence of bisexual people, but puberty can be a confusing time to for people, where their hormones are messing with them. Especially for people who were abused or interfered with as children. For example, a man who calls himself gay because he was molested as a kid and he internalised his abuse as a coping mechanism, believing that if he acted like he wanted it he’d feel less of a victim, and we all know that men don’t like being victims. Then he interacts with women and he starts to find them attractive, and realises he has feelings for them that he’s never had for other men, so he learns he is straight.

There are also men who grew up with no father figures in their childhoods whatsoever, not even uncles or grandads. They crave this male role model, and sometimes it gets so strong that they mistakenly believe that they are gay or bisexual. Until a man like that interacts with an older man who is kind to him and fulfils that male authority figure that younger man was deprived of. Then he learns he’s not sexually attracted to men at all. And even if he is actually gay or bisexual, this interaction still saves this young man’s life, because then he begins to see other men as more than just sexual conquests and learns how to be a better man himself.

Now, some of these straight men who previously thought they were bi or gay may mistakenly come to the conclusion that homosexuality isn’t real, or at least that bisexuality isn’t real. These men thought they liked men because they were deprived of male role models or they were abused then they were children, so they see homosexuality or bisexuality as something that is caused by environmental factors or mental illnesses that can be cured. Obviously they are wrong, but I can see where they are coming from. Especially if most of the gay and bisexual men they interact with have issues like problems with their fathers or live hedonistic lifestyles. But meet a gay or bi man who is well adjusted and that narrative can go away. Or meet a gay man who was also deprived of a male role model, then starts interacting with older straight men who treat him with respect and that gay man is still gay even though he’s much happier now. Hopefully, a lot of these "ex-gay" and "ex-bi" people will realise that not every gay or bi person has had their experiences.