Aromantic Asexual in the bible belt

[artemis]

 I want to start coming out to people at school next year, but I'm not entirely sure if it would be a good idea My school does have a GSA, but no one ever mentions it and I'm not sure if it just doesn't come up in conversations, or if people avoid talking about it.

[PerformativeSurprise]

I grew up in the Bible Belt, so I understand your hesitation.  It's intimidating coming out in an environment that often encourages bigotry.  I honestly don't know what to tell you.  I think it's great if you want to come out, but you do have to be prepared for negative reactions. People may or may not be understanding. It's up to you to decide if it's worth it.  I personally don't feel like you can make a wrong decision here--every person is different.  If you feel you need to come out, regardless of reactions, then go for it.  If you don't feel comfortable or are unsure if you can handle the possible consequences, then don't do it.  The most important thing is whether or not coming out would be good for you. 

[morallygayro]

As an aro girl who isn't into guys and can kind of relate:

 

You should be mostly fine, as long as you're cis. I have a friend who is an openly sex and romance repulsed aromantic asexual (though we live in Michigan and her parents don't know but they don't really care either, also most of her friends are either aro, ace, queer, or some combination of the three) and a cousin who is a straight aro (she considers herself straight and I consider heterosexual aros straight anyway so *shrug*) and my cousin's parents and our grandfather are, like, scary conservative.

 

To give you a clearer mental picture: her five-year-old sister has told me that the Duggars are "awesome!" which scares the hell out of me. And our grandmother jokes that I'm her favorite because we're the only two family members who aren't Republicans. My grandma has four children, three sons-in-law and a daughter in law, and ten grandchildren.

 

Anyway, if your situation is anything like my cousin's, you should be mostly okay. You'll get a bunch of microaggressions about finding the right one and "submitting" to a husband and having babies and of course there's a ton of ace and aro invisibility and if you're a girl a lot of it will be really sexist, but otherwise you should be fine.