Such a good story! It's commonly understood and commonly underappreciated that LGBTQ people miss the sort of socializing practice that most cis/straight teens get in high school. We generally don't date as teens because we're in the closet like you were or because the high queer dating pool is too small and the teenage horizons so closed in.

Things are better today with fewer of us waiting as long as you did to come out, but the phenomenon is still there. Second adolescence is a real phenomenon that counselors often point out to clients while reassuring them and urging them to go easy on themselves.