Dear @Alex-Taylor
Thank you for being so brave in reaching out on our forum.
I can hear that your friends have been there to support you through some of your difficult moments, which is lovely. I’m really sorry that your parents aren’t accepting, that must be very difficult. You are absolutely deserving of love and acceptance just as you are. It also sounds like reaching out to them could make things worse, which also sounds very difficult 😞
I can also hear that you are leaning on your friends for support and you like them, I can hear how difficult it is that they don’t reciprocate.
Maybe having a look at some of Reach Out’s links on self compassion and coping with gender identity and sexuality could be beneficial.
Also having a release for these feelings you have for them, whether this be in a journal, reaching out to a school counsellor or perhaps Reach Out’s peer chat.
Opening our self up to other friend supports can also be helpful so we have multiple people we can lean on.
Not sure if any of that is helpful, but I hope you can be kind to yourself. You sound like a really kind and wonderful person. And reaching out to someone for support, or looking for Reach Out’s articles on managing stress and anxiety, on gender and sexuality, difficult family dynamics or general coping.
Having feelings for someone who doesn’t reciprocate is really tough, and please know it isn’t a reflection on you and isn’t something to be ashamed of.
Take care of yourself!
