One of the biggest fears men carry is that speaking honestly will set something irreversible in motion.

That the moment they say the truth out loud, everything will have to change.

What’s often missing is a safe container for the conversation.

For many men, their partner isn’t the right first place. Neither are friends, family, or colleagues. The emotional and practical stakes are simply too high.

When I was navigating my own process, this was one of the hardest parts. There was no obvious person I could talk to who wasn’t directly affected by what I was trying to understand. The alternative felt extreme - as though the only option was to pathologise something that was, at its core, a human experience.

That sense of having nowhere neutral to speak is incredibly heavy.

Working with an external coach or professional who has no stake in your personal life can be profoundly relieving. Nothing you say needs to be managed, softened, or protected.

Nothing goes back to your loved ones.

Nothing has to be decided.

Often, the simple act of being heard, without judgement or agenda, reduces the internal pressure dramatically. What felt overwhelming becomes workable.

After Straight exists largely because I know how destabilising it is to carry this alone - and how different things feel when you don’t have to.

You don’t have to tell anyone yet.

But you don’t have to hold all of this by yourself either.