While reflecting back on the memories of our most awkward ages might be painfully cringe, it’d be a disservice not to appreciate how incredibly hilarious they’ve become. Whether it was dressing exclusively in cargo pants, ferociously idolising Britney Spears, or being a very intense “ally” in school – these tweets about growing up queer will have you reminiscing on all the memories you definitely pushed into your subconscious. 

This lesbian ‘right of passage’ is an all too relatable and slightly painful memory to relive. We’ll give it the five seconds of fame, but cheers to growing up (and not having anyone monitoring our search histories)!

https://twitter.com/mysagegreen/status/1542945336418832384

Speaking of search histories…Shakira, anyone? Perhaps this is something that not all of us have grown out of, especially not the gay club DJ or their playlists. Now we can proudly dance to ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ while channelling the dance choreography we made as kids. 

my parents should've known i was gay when all i did at 5/6 years old was ask them to put the shakira music videos on tv 24/7

— moth 🍉 (@mothmanherself) June 28, 2022

I’m getting a little bit dizzy remembering 11 year-old me stumbling around the shopping centre, trying incredibly hard to both look forward at my feet and sideways at Victoria’s Secret ads. I’ll be the first to admit I understand the ‘childhood realization in Victoria’s Secret’ to ‘raging homosexual’ pipeline all too well. 

https://twitter.com/cishetguy/status/1541659207577079808

Enough said. While we’re at it, can we talk about how unstoppable we felt with our back-to-school outfits on in the laser tag lighting? 

My family should’ve known I was gay when I wanted my laser tag name to be bootylicious #Pride2022

— Ronnie Aniol (@ronnierayallday) June 18, 2022

It’s giving the same energy as the choreographed dances we made our parents sit through after dinner. Britney is the queer icon we all needed growing up, and to that, we say: slay. 

Anybody else? #growingupgay pic.twitter.com/wmFXRO6LY7

— JOHNNY SIBILLY (@JohnnySibilly) April 11, 2020

We might all be feeling especially called out by this one. However, it’s safe to say that most of us have shifted from ‘happy gay’ to ‘regular (and probably more angsty) gay’.

https://twitter.com/cheeseraven11/status/1541938029073297408

Secretly judging someone’s hair products seems like the queer rush of adrenaline we all needed growing up. It’d be a lie to say this didn’t follow us into adulthood… there’s a lot to be said about a sneaky link through their skincare routine.

https://twitter.com/patthatmatt/status/1495189736771751937

We truly believe that these Twitter threads will never die, especially for ones like #GrowingUpGay. If you’re still ready to see more, feel free to get nostalgic by looking through last year’s roundup of hilarious tweets.