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 Modern date ideas. Read these and thank us later.

 Modern date ideas are all we need in 2023 for date planning. Going to the movies or for lunch at a restaurant has now become boring. We need something more creative for a first date to ensure things kick off well and we make memories for a lifetime. As they say, if it starts well, it’s a good beginning. 

Here are some cool first-date ideas that will set a good course for things to follow. 

1. Cycle around your city - What’s better than walking around together or going out for a car trip? Take a sustainable biking trip around the city and cycle your heart out. You can keep it low key and simple to let your inner child out and bond with each other. While something extravagant may feel more date-like, a simple bonding session over a cycling trip helps. And you both also get some fresh air on the way. 

2. Volunteer together to connect more meaningfully - You can also plan your first date around something meaningful, be it a beach clean up or an awareness drive. Doing something meaningful together can create some core memories and play a role in making you aware about your potential partner’s beliefs. You will also be able to see their compassionate side and reveal your own while creating a good impact on this world.

3. Sip and paint - You don’t have to be the best artist in the world to try this. You can be just good enough. Attend a sip and paint session so you can enjoy each other’s company while unleashing your creative side. It’s a good idea to bond over art and a good glass of wine. A dreamy date indeed. 

4. Go to a local market together - There is something charming about local and cute markets. You don’t have to visit a fancy shopping mall for a first date or eat at an expensive restaurant. You could do something simple like visit a local handicrafts market and see things you haven’t seen before. You could also visit an antiques market and talk about the old heritage items in the stores. It’s an interesting conversation for the first time and surely something you will remember for a good time to come. Don’t forget some local street coffee or a good cuppa chai to bond over. 

5. Watch a theater performance - Most people choose something easy like a movie for a first date. However, there is a little charm to that. You could watch a play at a theater together and bond over that to truly connect over the little things in life. Watching people perform live and seeing their emotions on stage is a completely different awe-inspiring experience. Imagine - you will have so much to talk about after the first date! 

Let us know in the comments which of these you tried and how you enjoyed your first date! Share your date ideas with us too!