For most kids, the social prsur of middle school are tough enough. But an creasg number of young teenagers, some as young 10 or 11, are g out as gay or lbian middle school. Beno Denizet-Lewis, who wrote about the trend the New York Tim Magaze, discs what social factors uld be leadg young people to e out earlier.
Contents:
- GAY KIDS COMG OUT YOUNGER, BUT PARENTS ASK "HOW DO YOU KNOW?"
- SUPPORTG A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE MIDDLE SCHOOL
- GAY YOUTH COMG OUT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL
- AM I GAY? QUIZ - FOR MIDDLE-SCHOOL KIDS ?❤️??
- WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE
- WHAT'S LIFE LIKE FOR GAY KIDS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
GAY KIDS COMG OUT YOUNGER, BUT PARENTS ASK "HOW DO YOU KNOW?"
Gay kids are g out earlier — sometim middle school — and many are fdg acceptance. But some parents and teachers wonr if the kids are too young to really know their sexual orientatn. * gay middle schoolers *
" He explas, That's not to say that gay teenagers didn't still suffer harassment at school or rejectn at home, but many seemed ls burned wh shame and self-loathg than their olr gay peers. Gog onle broke through the isolatn that had been a hallmark of beg young and gay, and allowed gay teenagers to fd rmatn to refute what their fai or church sometim still told them - namely, that they would never fd happs and to the Inter and to creasg cultural acceptance of homosexualy (an crease marred, we should note, by measur like Proposn 8), kids who might once have waed until high school or even llege to e out are now dog so earlier.
At least 120 middle schools the untry have gay-straight alliance groups, and others let stunts observe the natnal Day of Silence prott agast anti-gay harassment. " They were not, however, silent: "Good luck gettg middle-schoolers not to talk, " the school unselor youth of the Webster kids and other gay middle-schoolers is a sign of how far gay rights have e — but 's also the kids' biggt obstacle to acceptance.
The irony of a parent spectg her kid is gay and then refg to believe he uld know his own orientatn highlights how much more difficulty some parents have wh burgeong gay sexualy than they would wh a straight kid's of this may have to do wh the misnceptn that you have to have gay terurse to be gay, or that homosexualy is somehow a more "sexual" orientatn than heterosexualy.
SUPPORTG A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE MIDDLE SCHOOL
* gay middle schoolers *
A lawyer Florida argued that gay-straight allianc promote the "premature sexualizatn of the stunts, " and when At started a gay-straight alliance, his Michigan school ma him ll somethg "ls ntroversial" (he chose "Peace Alliance"). Denizet-Lewis reports the hopeful words of velopmental psychologist Rch Sav-Williams: "This is the first generatn of gay kids who have the great joy of beg able to argue wh their parents about datg, jt like their straight peers do.
Too many tim, episos of bullyg are based around stunts’ perceived sexualy or inti, and as rearch prov, our young people are way schools n bat the attacks is to host a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). A 2014 study found that “LGBTQ stunts are at higher risk for suici, part bee they are more often targeted for bullyg and discrimatn, but heterosexual stunts n also be the target of homophobic bullyg.
GAY YOUTH COMG OUT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL
Don't be the one 'Am I Gay?' tt that will give you the answer you seek. The HONEST answer. This is that tt. Try now * gay middle schoolers *
Create an articulated program where stunts om the high school program n help those the younger you’re terted learng more about tablishg a GSA your school, check out the Jump Start Gui provid by Gay, Lbian, and Straight Edutn Network. When realy, if you talk to a gay man, you know, many of them lookg back will say, you know, I noticed my same sex attractn, you know, at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 that ballpark. I mean, one of the tertg thgs that we have to look at is this, is that much of the anti-gay bullyg and anti-gay harassment that's gog on middle schools and high school is more about genr non-nformy than really is about beg gay or lbian.
Is that beg gay or lbian is still enough of a pariah inty that parents want to take off the table as long as they n, or is jt that parents really feel that all kids are sexualized too early the days, and they don't want their kids at this age thkg about, you know, hookg up?
So was really - and a lot of parents, when they heard their kid, their 12-, 13-, 14-year-old say, you know, I'm gay, or I'm bisexual, or I'm lbian, they tomatilly went to oh my god, that means he's havg sex, when realy wasn't about that at all. DENIZET-LEWIS: I thk that there's no doubt that sort of as you have more posive portrayals and, I would say, accurate portrayals of gay and lbian life the media, and kids n go onle and fd all kds of rourc, that there's no doubt that that's gog to have an effect on kids, and that they're gog to possibly e out earlier bee of that.
AM I GAY? QUIZ - FOR MIDDLE-SCHOOL KIDS ?❤️??
The ntroversial tle scrib genalia, gay sex and rmatn about the e of homosexual datg apps. * gay middle schoolers *
Now, I don't thk that those posive portrayals of gay life is gog to sort of make a kid who's not attracted to the same sex sudnly say, you know, hey, this seems really ol.
What I thk that the more posive portrayals popular culture has done is 's ma a ltle b safer for kids who do feel that they're gay or lbian to be able to e to their parents or school unselor and talk about the issu, which I thk is a real step forward bee for many years, kids who had same-sex attractn or were nfed, they uldn't talk to anyone about . So, you know, nsequently I sort of went nial mo, which is what a lot of gay kids have done for many years, and then my early 20s and mid-20s and late 20s, as many gay men do who don't e out until late, we sort of try to relive our gay adolcence that we weren't allowed to live.
WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE
And so what's remarkable, now, is I thk we're gog to see, as more and more kids e out younger and are sort of able to have a normal adolcence the sense that, you know, I talked to kids who were havg arguments wh their parents about gog on dat when they're 15 or 16 or 17 or gog to the prom or sort of, you know, havg their normal adolcence, I thk 's gog to create an entirely different kd of gay and lbian adult the next 10, 20, 30 years. The Trevor Project is a natnal anizatn providg crisis terventn and suici preventn servic to lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and qutng (LGBTQ) young people unr 25. “Bullied” is a documentary film signed to help admistrators, teachers and unselors create a safer school environment for all stunts, not jt those who are gay and lbian.
Fortunately, TV has experienced a boom LGBTQ+-clive programmg recent years, wh beloved shows such as “The Owl Hoe” wng the Common Sense Media seal of approval, and classics such as “Arthur” and “Blue’s Clu” prentg episos featurg gay weddgs and Pri paras. ) — Appropriate for all ag and well worth the rental fee, this sweet documentary about an digeno gay uple who pete tradnal dancg shows them challengg powwow l agast same-sex upl. A young person makg iends and havg adventur a strange land while tryg to fd their way home, protagonist Kipo’s iends number at least one nonbary character and another who rejects Kipo’s csh wh the history-makg statement, “I’m gay, ” the first time those words were said children’s televisn.
WHAT'S LIFE LIKE FOR GAY KIDS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
Gay Charlie is out and reverg om beg bullied about ; Nick is figurg out his bisexualy as his feelgs for Charlie velop; and the rpons to the boys om their fai and diverse iend groups fall everywhere on the spectm om supportive to punch-worthy. Our 15 Favore LGBTQ Books for Kids & Teens | Reviews by WirecutterSkip To ContentHome & GarnApplianc & VacuumsBathroomCleangGarn & OutdoorsHeatg, Coolg, & Air QualyHome & DerMovgOfficeSleepKchenCookg & BakgCoffee & DrksGrillgSuppliFood & GroceryHealth & LeisureFnsHealthOutdoorsHobbiTravelPetsTechElectronicsPhon, Tablets, & SmartwatchComputersAudVioSmart HomeCamerasBaby & KidBath & DiapergPregnancy & NursgClothgGear & FurnureSafetySchoolToysTravelStyleApparelShoAccsoriGiftsGifts for Grown-UpsGifts for KidsShoppgDealsBaby and kid15 LGBTQ Books for Kids and Teens Remend by Queer Librarians, Edutors, and Inpennt BooksellersPhoto: Michael MurtghLegislatn like Florida’s Parental Rights Edutn Act—known by crics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law—and creased attempts to ban books censor discsns on sexualy and genr inty wh young people. “The book’s characters have a group of iends who are also on the queer spectm, and ’s betiful to see them teract so naturally and fortably, like ’s not even a big al that one’s transgenr or one’s gay, ” Hersh said.
Inclus lks to GLSEN’s Safe Space K (6-12), Ready Set Rpect (K-5), LGBT clive rative materials for the classroom, the Gay Straight Alliance Network, and ’s “Workg Wh LGBT Stunts of Color” discs nsiratns for tors workg wh LGBT stunts of lor and provis practil tips and strategi for supportg ’s Bt Friend & Advot for Youth’s “Toolk for Creatg Safe Space for GLBTQ Youth” enabl staff of mastream youth-servg anizatns to create a safe and welg environment for GLBTQ youth by directly addrsg homophobia and transphobia among staff and youth.