"Mom, Dad, I'm gay!" Your brave, wonrful, betiful child has spoken the words out loud that somewhere the back of your md you already spected. This moment of honty is the begng of a journey that n be challengg for both you and your child.
Contents:
‘COMG OUT’: GAY TEENAGERS, THEIR OWN WORDS
The project was iated as an effort to better unrstand this generatn of gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr youths, and to explore s reali and expectatns. * coming out gay teenagers in their own words *
In the wake of his ath, stori of gay youths beg bullied and takg their own liv subsequent outpourg of ncern om parents, tors and those who had survived bullyg themselv spired It Gets Better, a mpaign led by the lumnist and thor Dan Savage which thoands of lbian and gay adults shared their stori to assure all teenagers that society has a place for them. For example, the h TV show “Glee” has had three storyl volvg gay teenagers this season, cludg the matter-of-fact urtship, wh rare onscreen same-sex kissg, of characters played by Chris Colfer and Darren Criss. Lady Gaga has untered the antigay rhetoric that many young people hear their church and muni wh the song “Born This Way, ” creasg her already large fan base among gay and lbian teenagers.
Issu, ” said Gee Chncey, a Yale Universy profsor of 20th-century Uned Stat history and lbian and gay history, referrg to lbians, gay men and bisexual and transgenr people. ”The New York Tim embarked on the project Comg Out as an effort to better unrstand this generatn’s reali and expectatns, and to give teenagers their own voice the Tim spoke wh or e-mailed nearly 100 gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr teenagers om all of parts of the untry — om ral areas to urban centers, om supportive environments to hostile on. The newspaper ntacted them through var advocy groups, as well as through social workg s like YouTube, Twter and Trevor Project, which provis unselg to lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr youths crisis, among other servic, posted a ll for teenagers to tell their stori to The Tim, rultg nearly 250 rpons.
“But then when I stopped and cid to be myself, was like I no longer f the stereotyp, ” he the face of petg msag, lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr youths jt want to be teenagers. It is jt one part of their Kailey Jeanne Cox, 15, said her story: “I don’t want to have myself beg seen by people as ‘Oh, she’s — she’s gay. Tled 'Comg Out': Gay Teenagers, Their Own Words, the seri shar personal stori of LGBT youth at different stag of the "g out" procs.
COMG OUT: A PARENTS GUI TO SUPPORTG YOUR GAY TEEN
The New York Tim' seri that featured gay teenagers discsg their g out experienc highlights LGBT young people's sire for acceptance * coming out gay teenagers in their own words *
So, for the average gay teenager, high school n be hell. Ridiculed, bullied and ostracized by their peers, gay teenagers are oftentim left to believe they are alone the world, a feelg which has all too often rulted tragedy.
Suici is the third leadg e of ath among young adults om ag 15 to 24, but lbian, gay and bisexual teens are four to five tim more likely to attempt suici than their heterosexual peers are. As prevly mentned, the Amerin public has fally been awakened to the issu afflictg gay teens.
Homosexual inti n be scribed as closeted, homosexually self aware, gay/ lbian and non-gay intified. This classifitn privileg the role of self-fn. In g out, gay people tegrate, as bt as they n, dissociated aspects of the self. As gay people mt ci on a daily basis whether to reveal and to whom they will reveal, g out is a procs that never ends. * coming out gay teenagers in their own words *
A wave of media mpaigns and support groups, such as the "It Gets Better" mpaign led by lumnist and thor Dan Savage, has helped to reassure gay teens that they are not alone and a surge of gay characters and gay story l on televisn has provid LGBT teens wh much need feelgs of acceptance. Thankfully, certa advocy groups and media outlets have been able to keep the issu afflictg gay teens afloat. "I am a gay teenager livg a tradnally nservative state, Alabama.