: Re: How to write a gay character from a first person perspective (Twist: The person doesn't know that they're gay!) Remember that story I mentioned in my previous question? Yeah, well one of the

@RJPawlick285

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Hmm. This is a bag of cats that you need to handle with extreme care. Not any more than any other 'finding myself' story, but...

Alright. A few things that come to mind.

Have the protagonist be in a relationship with a girl. The protagonist is obviously close with his girlfriend, and they act like best friends. But he never seems to feel anything romantic for her, and he just can't make sense of it. They kiss, they make out, but it just doesn't affect him like his friends tell him it would affect them. He thinks something is wrong with him, "Why is this only happening to me?" This doesn't need to happen in teens, or even early twenties. People I know didn't figure it out until well into their thirties, because they just never talked about it -- they came from strict and orthodox families, very religious. They married because "that's what men do, marry a woman and settle down to start a family".
Another approach is every time the protagonist sees his crush, have him looking at a group, or certain individuals. "The popular kids", or "the nerds", or "his classmates", or "his colleagues". Whatever flavour you favour. This way, the reader doesn't know which one, but knows it's one of them.
Perhaps this is the protagonist's first crush. He doesn't understand what's going on, or even identifies the butterflies. He just feels happier around this one person. They make him smile, laugh, forget the things that usually bog him down. Could be a beautiful friendship, and maybe the protagonist thinks so, too. That is, until he start daydreaming bout his buddy. Until recurring dreams of them standing at the alter. Until, during a game of football, his buddy and him take a tumble and one lands on the other. The sparks are suddenly electric, the urge to taste his lips consumes him -- whether he understands this is irrelevant.

Hope this helps ^_^

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