Gay news travels fast. Before you know it, word will be out on the street, and straight friends will set you up with their gay friends. A friend setup is always the best way to meet cool people. Also, other gays, gays at the office, gays in the family, gays at the gym, gays everywhere will come flying out of the woodwork.

WHAT ABOUT THE WHOLE TINDER/ONLINE THING? HOW DO I HANDLE THAT?

If you're new to being gay, online dating is your best friend. Don't give me the prim "I don't like dating apps" garble. This is not a time in your life to be smug. I don't love dating apps either, but sh*t, it's hard to meet someone in real life.

And sadly, lesbian bars are being shut down at an alarming rate. With the great lack of queer spaces, if you want to get laid, you need to swallow your pride and swipe left and right.

Make sure you put in your bio what you're looking for. There are so many "straight" girls on Tinder who are just seeking out threesomes with their boyfriend. This has made lesbians understandably cynical and bitter, so anyone who lands on the femme spectrum might be met with suspicion.

Annoying, I know, but girl, I had to do it, too. I'm very outwardly girly (but inside, I'm a total fiery TOP), and I would come to find that all the girls I thought were cute initially assumed I was a straight girl seeking a threesome, or a bi-curious entity looking to experiment. I didn't match with anyone for a while, until ...

I put in my profile: Totally gay, seeking the same.

That's when I started matching with the girls I liked. Total game changer.

WHO PAYS THE BILL?

I think this was one of the biggest points of stress I faced when I first started dating girls. Who the f*ck pays the bill?

Here is what I learned after years and years of relentless bill anxiety: You can, of course, split the check. But ugh. Check-splitting isn't sexy. It's wildly unromantic. And I don't know about you, but I crave r-o-m-a-n-c-e.

I would rather foot the entire bill (and I'm not a rich power lesbian, YET) over going dutch any day of the week. The lines can already get easily blurred between friendship and love in lesbian land, so I think it's important to draw distinct lines. Keep your friends friendly and your dates datey.

If you're racked with fear about the whole bill thing, I have a simple solution: Offer to pay the bill. Be prepared to pay the bill.

However, if the girl you're on a date with is vehement about paying the bill, let her pay, babes. It's OK to be treated. Straight girls get treated all the time. You're not robbed of being romantically indulged just because you're a lesbian. Don't feel guilty because it's a girl. Get over that. I know it's new to you, but a date is a date is a date, and if she wants to pay, let the bitch pay. Or you can be the bitch that pays. You can even be bill-paying fluid if you like.

Some old school lesbians, who fiercely subscribe to butch/femme roles, might feel that the more masculine energy should pay the bill (which is fine -- whatever works for you), but that's a little bit of an antiquated mentality in modern gay culture.

You can be a fully femme lipstick lez and also enjoy taking a girl out for a night on the town. You can be a top and a bottom, both in sex and money, honey. 

And don't stress about it too much. You and the chick you're dating will figure out a rhythm that works for you.

WHAT  DO I WEAR?

Go as yourself. Women are drawn to authenticity. If you're comfortable in jeans and a button-down, rock it, girl. If you want to wear mega heels and shocking pink lipstick, rock it, girl.

Don't feel like now that you're gay you have to cut your hair off and exclusively wear blazers. If you like that look, wear all the blazers your heart desires. But if that's not your jam, don't feel the pressure to play the part. There's someone out there for everyone.

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One of the best parts about the girl-on-girl dynamic is that there isn't really any slut-shaming (as far as my experience goes) in our culture. If you're comfortable, and the chemistry is there, and you're feeling the heat -- go for it, sister.

The average woman isn't going to ghost you because you slept with her on the first date.  What's she going to do, tell her friends how "easy" you are? I mean, it's kind of hypocritical...

Do whatever feels right. One of the best parts about your new gay life is now that you're finally out of that repressive closet and are embracing your sexual identity is a whole new world inside of you will come to life.

Coming out is like opening up Pandora's box. Sexuality is at the core of who you are. When you celebrate the core of who you are, all the formerly displaced pieces will fall into place. Especially your intuition. Being true to yourself gets you tapped into your instincts on a whole other level.

So trust yourself. Listen to your gut.  Go out and get yourself some gay sex toys so you are prepared for anything you come across. You're safe now.Click here