Handling people jabbing at you about your sexuality is one of those rites of passage that we don't all have to face in school, but plenty of those who do have to deal with it choose to do so with a tongue in cheek sense of humor.
That's pretty much how Reddit user i_dunno-man found herself at odds with a classmate and her teachers who insisted she was wrong to handle things that way.
Wanting some perspective, she turned to Reddit's "Am I The A**hole" (AITA) subReddit to ask:
"AITA for winking at a Christian girl?"
Before we get to her post, let's talk about how the subReddit works. Reddit users share their situations as posts and other users vote in the comments, usually explaining why they voted the way they did.
Voting options are:
- NTA: Not The A**hole
- YTA: You're The A**hole
- NAH: No A**holes Here
- ESH: Everyone Sucks Here
So let's get into the details with her post.
"So I (18 F[emale]) was in school the other day (how unusual I know) and we were discussing societal issues and after talking for a while we landed on being a gay person in this day and age in our country."
"My teacher mentioned a statistic that states that on average every tenth person is gay/not straight."
"upon hearing that the aforementioned christian girl snickered and whispered loud enough so that everyone could hear it 'so OP is definitely one of those lesbians' so I just turned around, winked at her and said 'you wish' (admittedly I had that idea from an old tumblr post)"
"After I said it she turned pale and was clearly shaken, asking me how I could accuse her of such a thing."
"I just laughed and told her to loosen up a bit. A few classmates also laughed and she started crying and had to leave the classroom."
"At the time I didn't feel bad and I still don't (not really) but both my teacher and a few classmates told me after the lesson to go and apologize and that I should have known not to say such a thing to her since she is very openly very Christian and being gay is a big no-no in her eyes."
"I refused to apologize and I haven't spoken to her since (it all happened last Friday) but I still get some evil stares from her general direction so I'm wondering if I should just suck it up and go apologize."
The original poster (OP) didn't have to wait long for Reddit to sound off... after they were done cracking up, of course.
"NTA. You are hilarious. If anything, I think you might have gotten a little too close to the truth." - Melaleuca10
"She's just trying to make herself look like the injured party when the fact is this: if being gay is such a horrifying 'nono' in her lifestyle, to the point where obviously jokingly accusing her of it makes her have that reaction (if we assume it's genuine), then wouldn't it still be inaccurate to say that OP owes Christian Girl an apology? Because CG just threw that "horrifying" accusation onto someone else, first. OP was just responding to a bully. NTA." - BlackDahlia42
"NTA. People might say you shouldn't have retaliated, but she insulted you."
"Being a lesbian isn't an insult, duh, but she still meant it in a mean way/as an insult. So, yeah, an insult in this case. You simply poked back at her in a fairly harmless way. I know a few people that would absolutely go off on a girl like this, so she honestly got the easy way out."
"She shouldn't be dishing what she can't take. Plus, you might have struck a nerve... Lots of those really intense Christian girls turn out to be lesbian/bisexual. Source: me." - ChickNamedVenus
"NTA -- While she is entitled to her own opinions of gender and sexual mores, there's a bigger lesson here that she should learn. OP, your sexuality doesn't actually matter for purposes of this analysis, so I don't care if you are gay/straight/bi/asexual."
"HOWEVER, Christian Girl needs to understand that in polite society, much less corporate America or a public sector job, that 'outing someone' or speculating on a colleague's sexuality is a one-way ticket to getting HR pwned, losing your job, or even seeing yourself as a defendant in a lawsuit."
"It's probably even a way to be brought up for discipline at the university, if someone were to say that Christian Girl is creating a 'hostile learning environment,' which would also obviously apply to a work environment." - OrangeJuliusPage
"Wait, so you're having a class discussion about the societal issues faced by LGBTQ+ people in todays day and age. She makes homophobic remarks and gets upset because of her own homophobia, and they want YOU to apologize for, what?"
"Existing? Upsetting the homophobe by implying (as she had just done to you in a much more hateful way) that she could also be gay? F that noise. NTA. Do not apologize."
"The irony that his happened in a discussion about 'societal issues faced by LGBTQ+ people' is too much. The teacher was looking for some discussion and understanding of the issues, not a IRL example of homophobia, Brenda." - msbelle13
"Christian here, don't you dare go apologize. Schools are supposed to have no bullying / no harassment policies, and she called you something she sees as a 'big no no' and insult in her eyes."
"Well, being gay isn't wrong; it's not an insult and, if you felt like it, I'd take it to either the guidance counselor or school administration. If you don't feel like it, definitely don't apologize because you have literally done NOTHING wrong. NTA." - stewbugx
"Bless her poor heart, deeply offending her sensibilities like that, heathen! You my friend, are not an AH, but a living legend. NTA" - unxceptional
"I'd go a step further and say that OP would be TA if she apologized. There's nothing wrong with being gay and therefore nothing apologize for."
"In that context, I took OP's statement as just an inoffensive joke; it was the Christian girl who was using sexuality as an insult and who should actually apologize to everyone who had to hear her." - HyacinthFT
Regardless of what her classmates of teacher thinks, the OP can take solace in the fact that Reddit thinks she's not the a**hole.
Trans Man Considers Breaking Off Engagement After Fiancé Wants Him To Wear A Dress For Wedding
KimJane Photography/GettyImages
A lot of people often say, "Believe people when they tell you who they are the first time."
It's one of life's truest (and ignored) sayings.
Believe a person when they are drunk and spew words as well.
Often, a few drinks will help a person let loose on how they really feel.
And then take note.
Redditor dude-e23 wanted to discuss his experience and get some feedback, so naturally, he came to the "Am I The A**hole" (AITA) subreddit.
He asked:
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
"Hi, I'm sorry for the potentially bad English; it's not my first language anyway."
"I'm a 26-year-old male who recently got engaged to my fiancè, a 28-year-old male."
"For the sake of the story, I'm going to call him Mark."
"I'm a trans man, and this will be relevant to the story."
"Mark and I have been going out for 4 years, and I wasn't on testosterone when we met, and only started recently."
"Mark had never had any issues with my gender identity; he always respected my pronouns and my gender, or so I thought."
"Recently, we were over at his parents' when the topic of the wedding planning came up."
"His mom asked about our wedding outfits, and Mark, who was a bit drunk at this point, said, 'I want to put (my name) in a dress so SHE can be prepared for HER future wifey duty.'"
"I was stunned, and I could see how uncomfortable his mom was."
"I said we were leaving and took Mark home."
"It happened yesterday, and I'm genuinely thinking of breaking it off."
"I've struggled a lot with my identity, and a big part of my family cut me off after my coming out."
"Right now, Mark is at work, and I pretended to be asleep when he left, but now I can't stop overthinking small details like how he used some feminine term in bed or how he always hated when I cut my hair short."
"But maybe he thought it was funny, and he was too drunk to realize what he was saying."
The OP was left to wonder:
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed in on some options to the question, AITA:
Redditors declared that OP was NOT the A-hole.
"Yeah, so it turns out that this isn't the case."
"Please don't marry him."
"He fundamentally doesn't respect who you are."
"And to be honest, this would be a disturbing enough statement if you were a woman."
"You can't tie yourself down to this person." ~ HighRiseCat
"Yes! It would still be icky and questionable for him to say this if OP presented as a CIS female - but the fact that OP is a trans man makes it horrifying. WTF?!" ~ MarionberryOk2874
"NOR. I'm a cisgender, heterosexual married woman, so my experience with dating is very different from yours, but if my fiancé said 'She will be wearing a modest dress to get used to life as a married woman' or 'She needs to wear a low cut dress, so I can see what I'm buying' or anything along those lines, I would have called it off quickly."
"The dismissal of your identity is problematic as hell, but so is the little hint that married life will be radically different and not in a lovely, better way."
"Your wedding attire should reflect you, your identity, your values, comfort, and inspire confidence."
"You deserve that."
"Everyone deserves that." ~ ankareeda
"NOR, have a direct conversation with him about this, and don't get legally entangled with him."
"He shouldn't be thinking this is funny anyway; drunkness is not an excuse here, you're his partner of many years." ~ Fit_Square1322
"If these things that he says are coming out when he's drunk, that probably means he's thinking about these issues of your gender presentation, but he's not telling you what he's thinking."
"He sounds very emotionally immature and not ready for marriage." ~ GreenDirt2
"Bro, drunk words are sober thoughts with the volume turned up."
"Thought it was funny isn’t a defense."
"It’s a confession."
"He told his mom who he actually thinks you are."
"You survived your family cutting you off to live as you."
"You don’t owe anyone a second round of that grief because your fiancé can’t handle pronouns after 4 years." ~ BabydolllVibess
"Oh, my God??!!"
"Dude, that’s crazy. Please dump his as*."
"He clearly doesn’t see you as a man, and if you marry him, you’re resigning yourself to a life of being misgendered, and he’s probably gonna try and detransition you or feminize you (seeing as he wants you to wear a DRESS)."
"Also, I’m a trans dude, and I think it’s important that you hear a fellow trans man say this."
"You need to leave."
"You’re a man, and it’s insane that he’s trying to make you feel like you aren’t."
"The breakup will probably suck, but if you stay with him, it’ll be 100x worse." ~ mothmn_9
"NOR, I’ve learned drunk people usually speak more honestly than they mean to."
"I’d guess his mask slipped off; this is certainly grounds for leaving if he can’t accept who you are as you are." ~ Defiant_Tea_8722
"You’re not overreacting."
"I don’t think he actually respects you and who you are as a person."
"He called you feminine things all throughout your relationship."
"Maybe he never accepted you, and I’m sorry."
"I know that's a lot, but I know you will find someone who actually respects you and cares for you truly." ~ Due_Classic_4090
"Some people would tell you that people say things they don’t mean when they’re drunk. I think that’s BS."
"In my experience, it just removes their filter, and everything they say has an underlying truth to it."
"Knowing your gender identity and what you prefer, his words seem very disrespectful towards you and inconsiderate of your feelings, and being drunk isn’t a good enough excuse."
"If you have doubts, don’t just brush them off; trust your gut." ~ Kitchen_Process_8351
"NOR."
"I’m a cis woman, but my first serious relationship was with a trans man."
"Frankly, he was abusive, and I don’t even like or respect him, but still I would NEVER misgender him, because I sincerely understand that he’s a man."
"And I’m not an a**hole."
"Your partner is an a**hole." ~ tigalicious
"NOR. That’s a major breach of trust."
"Your relationship has gone on long enough for him to know that sh*t isn’t cool and is not a matter to joke over, even if he’s drunk (unless he has a drinking problem, in which case he needs to address that before marriage and work to make amends)." ~ Moist_Drippings
"NOR. It sounds like he might be counting on your gender identity to be 'just a phase' and that after the marriage, he’ll expect you to embody the 'wifely' role fully."
"He isn’t taking you seriously as a man, and it doesn’t sound like he’s actually on board for a homosexual marriage."
"Get out of there!" ~ Amwfgoddess
"NOR. My biggest concern is the potential for abuse - wifey duty?"
"Not even a conservative man says something like that."
"It's a pure trash statement."
"My first marriage was to an addict... 'DRUNKEN WORDS ARE SOBER THOUGHTS!'"
"😔 I'm so sorry. 🫂" ~ pashinates
OP returned with an UPDATE:
"I dont know if this is how you update, but anyway..."
"Mark and I are done."
"He came home from work an hour and a half ago, and I made him dinner so we could eat and talk."
"I told him what he said deeply hurt me, that I felt like he didn't respect me and saw me as a woman."
"He said that until recently he always saw me as a man, even though I'm the more feminine side (whatever that means), but since I've started taking testosterone, he realized he was less attracted to me and started to resent me."
"Which is f**king weird because my appearance didn't even change that much, and that he needed to take the 'lead' of the relationship again."
"By then, I had heard enough."
"I made it clear we were done and that this type of behavior was not okay and that it'll never be okay."
"That he had to go to therapy and work on his insecurities, but that I couldn't stay with him."
"At this point, he was apologizing and almost pleading with me to stay, but I really did not want to stay, so I took all my essentials and called my friend."
"I'm currently waiting for her to pick me up."
"I'm so confused about how someone I loved so much could betray me like that."
"I'll ask my friend and her husband if they can go back to take my other stuff later on because I really don't want to see him."
"I'm safe, my friend set me up in the guest bedroom, and I'm so grateful I have her."
"Mark and his family have been blowing up my phone."
"His mom, bless her heart, has only asked how I was and said that no matter what, she'll always see me as her son and that she's sorry about Mark's behavior, but his dad and brother have been sending me very insulting texts that included slurs."
"Mark threatened to 'go get me,' but luckily, he doesn't know where my friend lives."
"Honestly, I don't even recognize the man I was with."
"I'm thinking about moving to another city where I could live with my cousin until I'm back on my feet, but that's a whole other story."
"I'm planning to keep in contact with Mark's mom, and I'll be meeting up with her on Thursday."
"Thank you so much for opening my eyes and for making me realize Mark's behavior was not normal."
This is such a heartbreaking story.
So sorry you had to go through this, OP.
Reddit is loudly 1000% with you.
It's wonderful that you have love and support.
Stay strong.