LIfe might have turned out very different for me if I hadn't been raised in a religious household I may have taken a very different path. I had been taught that men should not be with men so succeeded in repressing my interest in other guys...well, mostly.

The occasions I did explore I was hit with crippling guilt and remorse, even in the years after abandoning religious beliefs as the indoctrination was so deep despite rejecting the doctrine.

I presumed I was straight and lived exactly that life. In between relationships with women though I'd still sometimes end in exploring further with guys.

If anything, it's only been in recent years I've come to accept myself as bisexual, the main catalyst being separating from my wife for several months many years back (it seemed very likely for both of us that our marriage was over). Once the loneliness kicked in and I wanted company it was easier and probably more convenient in many ways to find male company (for a variety of reasons).

I often wonder if I hadn't had the high pressure indoctrination from an early age whether I would have ever considered myself straight (or even bi)

Notice it’s geared only toward women.

Not mine but has affected a partner and that is why she is not now. Good Sexual Experience has to be one of the Greatest Moments we can Experience in this Life we live on. No Religion Can Stop Me From That Communion with Another Being. I Consider it Sacred!!!! On my own way... And maybe that is why I am so against sexual misconducts and abuses against another human being. I just don't understand one sided pleasure. Good, because keeps me away from the use of prostitution. Just me being me. That's all. I am a Giver.

Religion suppresses all sexuality by labeling sex as a sin. Sex, in truth, is one of the greatest physical experiences two beings can share, no matter the sexual preference. If your focus is on each other entirely, it can be a greater experience than a fantasy ever could. How could such an experience ever be wrong.

I was married to a man for many, many years who did not fulfill any of my needs, sexually or otherwise. But I stayed because "good women", i.e. proper Christian women, didn't need things like orgasms, emotional connection, or actual enjoyment to have a fulfilling marriage. As I learned to let go of beliefs that originated in my Christian upbringing, I realized how stupid staying in that relationship was. Since then, I've been struggling with my sexuality. Part of me wants to go wild and make up for the 17 years of complete lack I suffered through. Another BIG part still believes that I need to keep myself "clean" for a potential future partner.

Religious families teach from earliest childhood that sex is BAD unless you're married, that marriage is the ultimate goal of your life, and if you're not good nobody will ever want to marry you. By the time I was 7, I'd been convinced that nobody would ever love me or want me.

Everyone who comes from this tradition is fucked up sexually, at least for a while, because if it's BAD right up until you get married, and then it's GOOD, it's a huge conflict to reconcile. Many women have a hard time enjoying sex for this reason.

Me? It's been a long time since I let religion tell me anything. I finally got out of my bad marriage where he punished me by withholding sex. I enjoy it when I can get it, and when I can't? I have a boyfriend in a box that runs on batteries, a vivid imagination, and a pile of erotica (NOT Fifty Shades of anything!).

Try living with Religious Parents ,were " Not under my roof " . & not like rich in the first place ( why living with parents ) & can get a room just when ever situation arises .

So how has religion suppressed my sexuality , quite a bit .
Even "self-sexing " has issue . no adult entertainment allowed under his roof , so ....

I can only imagine if I were bi or gay . I have no ill will towards them , in fact heart goes out to them , I wish that path in life on no one , Can't be the easiest of paths even if you have come to terms with it , accepted it , are perfectly happy & ok with it . Still , it is & always will be a alternative lifestyles .
Although I have cousin who is gay,doesn't live near us , & my Father has no harsh words ever been spoken of him , his choose . But something about if happens under My Father's roof that God will judge him for allowing under HIS roof . I haven't seen that cousin since we were kids . & haven't seen him since he came out ,

I have been propositioned in varying levels by Gays . Now I know how females feel about unwanted advances/attention by me ...lol

Doesn't matter who you are or dealing with , as long as you rights aren't violated or affected , or .adversely affect others rights/beliefs , you have to be respectful as possible of others rights beliefs .

It severely affected me. Being raised in christianity taught me that if i did anything other than hold a girls hand and kiss her a little before marriage, which i only get one chance at because we don't believe in divorce, then i would go straight to hell. Sex outside wedlock, straight to hell.
So when i got my first real serious crush at 13, i didn't act on it because it was sin and i, in fact became more concerned with converting the girl rather than my raging boner. My parents were unwilling to have a conversation with me about it and i still have a LOT of hangups about sex and relationships and whats ok to say or do. (The whole women's rights movement has added on to this so that i fear if i make a move at all then i instantly am viewed as an aggressive rapist. Leaving me stuck in a world where i cannot display my interest and women don't ask men out, this is not to mention my narcissistic mother, 80's television and whatever awful thing passed for sex ed in high school in the 90's)

It never did. Even when with the church, I realized that a superior being would not care if I pleasured myself or chose intimacy without marriage, but that pervy power-grabby PEOPLE would.

Well... I didn't actually become sexually active until I was 23. I just thought I wsn't that interested. At 23, I discovered Iust wans't that interested in the opposite sex, I was interested in other men.

I grew up in a strict Catholic home. The results: body shame, guilt about any and all sexual urges, taught masturbation is wrong (and felt horrible about it every time, but clearly not horrible enough to not do it), told sex before marriage is sinful (and actually held out for a long time because I stupidly took that so seriously), was instructed in natural family planning (because the pill and condoms are just too effective)…