Hello GTRU!
This is my first post in the forum and I'm really hoping you guys are going to give me some advice. It's not entirely "closet" related and it's a rather long story, but I'm sure some of you out there will hear me out.
I'm an 18-year-old male and I live in Bulgaria, a rather terrible country to be homosexual. I started to realize I was gay about 7 years ago and it took me about 2 years to further define my tastes and preferences - gay bears. And the bears are the worst part. Coming out to your friends is one thing, explaining you like overweight hairy men is another. It was really difficult for me at first, but I'm still glad I have close friends who support me at all times. I even tried to come out to my dad once, but it was a total failure - he thought I was joking and did not take me seriously at all. At the time it felt terrible.
Since I live in in a country that does just about everything anti-gay, there is a 0% chance for me to have a relationship, let alone have one with a bear. The bear community in here is literally nonexistent. So what did I do? I manned up, studied hard, and made a portfolio good enough to be accepted in a UK university. Why UK? Because English is the only foreign language I know and I'm actually seeking a serious relationship, not just a one-timer with a random guy from any country.
But there are tons of opportunities for things to go wrong. My parents might not have enough cash to cover my education abroad, I might not be accepted regardless of my grades and portfolio… Anything can go wrong. Imagine - I go get accepted into a university, go to the UK, yet ultimately have a hard time being accepted into the gay bear community.
So as a whole, if my whole "study abroad" thing doesn't work out I might just be a virgin for the rest of my life. I kind of feel like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I've been preparing for all my life, yet a tons of things can go wrong.
Any fellow bears out there? Any advice? Have any of you felt similar feelings? :-[