Are you from the LGBTQ+ community and feel pressured into a heterosexual marriage? Here's how you can seek help.

 If you haven’t come out to your parents or family yet about your sexual orientation, it can be challenging for you to avoid the topic of heterosexual marriage? 

How do you tell your parents that you’re not into heterosexual marriage but rather prefer something nonbinary and non-conforming? 

Do you even have to tell your parents that or is there another way around it? 

How do you seek help if you’re feeling forced into a marriage?

1. Seek therapy - There is always a benefit to having someone hear you out. After you feel heard, you can easily connect with more people and feel less isolated. Therapy is deeply helpful. It might not stop the pressure from your parents but it will certainly help to release it. Talking honestly about your feelings is empowering and helps you to understand your own identity more firmly. 

2. Work towards becoming financially independent - This will help you tremendously in every area of your life. Financial independence is the key to other forms of independence in life. Once you are financially independent, you will be able to stand up to your parents more easily and be more honest with them about your life and preferences. Even if they threaten to cut you off financially, as many parents do when children come out, it will not affect you since you are financially independent. 

3. Build a support system of friends you can be honest with - When a family fails you, you need a support system of friends who you can be honest with and turn to when you need them. A friend in need is a friend indeed. It’s best if you can ask your friends to help you just by being there and listening to you. Moreover, friends can also offer you space in case things get too bad with your family and you feel forced into a heterosexual marriage.

4. Do the hard thing and educate your parents - Most parents don’t support LGBTQ+ children because they are not aware of their sexual orientation or feel uncomfortable. The worst part is when they feel like it’s unnatural to be LGBTQ+. Educating them is a good option. You could even introduce them to your therapist or a local trusted family doctor who can educate them about how LGBTQ+ is a completely normal sexual orientation. It does not have to go be someone you directly associate with, it can be someone who your parents trust deeply. 

Talking to people around, reading the newspaper, and staying updated about more strategies to overcome parental pressure will also help you. No single resource will contain all the information or material you need. You must seek empowerment within and find the courage to stand up for your own truth. If you are from the LGBTQ+ community, your choice to get into a heterosexual marriage without resonating with it will impact your future partner as well.

5 tips for overcoming the "box-feeling" and opening your heart

In life, you might feel like you’re in a “box” where you can’t see anything outside it and your vision is limited. The truth is we are all feeling like that at some point but it’s good that you acknowledge it. Sometimes this “box” like feeling can prevent you from falling in love or seeing the love that you’re surrounded with. It’s crucial to overcome this feeling and feel free.

 Here are 5 tips to overcome the “box” feeling and open your heart to the good things in life. 

1. Try a healing class like Kintsugi - The Japanese art of healing is very popular and you must try it to overcome the “box” feeling. It makes you realise that your flaws are beautiful and make you you! Moreover, it makes you realise that we are all broken and beautiful in our own way.
2. Go for a solo trip - It might seem challenging to plan a solo trip and execute it but nothing helps more than being in the mountains or by the hillside on your own. A solo trip can really do the trick. You must explore someplace on your bucket list solo to see what you are truly capable of. 
3. Try an art workshop - Art is a great way to break free and to let out your inner child. Feeling boxed is common and sometimes just playing with colors in one form or another helps a lot. You must try an art workshop or visit a sculpting center where you can play like a child and create something. This will reinstate your confidence and make you feel more free. It will also add a new jest to your life.
4. Don’t stay indoors too much - Often staying indoors for too long can create a negative feeling in you without you realizing it. Staying in your comfort zone for too long is never good. It’s essential to step out of your comfort zone every now and then. If you stay indoors for too long, you might be feeling “boxed” subconsciously but you might not even realise it. It’s important for you to keep stepping out and perhaps take a walk in nature to understand yourself more closely.
5. Spend time with your favorite person - We all have a favourite person, be it a parent or a teacher or a best friend. It is important to spend time with your favourite person so you can let your heart out or just feel the comfort of their company. It’s great to spend time and do something you love together - be it watching a comfort film or watching the sunset. These things make you realize how much it would mean to enjoy these activities with a partner. Therefore, you will see your heart open slowly! 

Let us know which ones of these you tried and how they helped you. You can comment below or DM us on Instagram/ LinkedIn.