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:
- WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR CHILD SAYS: "I'M GAY"
- GAY YOUTH COMG OUT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL
- 12-YEAR-OLD'S IENDS DIDN'T CELEBRATE AFTER HE ME OUT AS GAY. SO A PARK FULL OF STRANGERS DID
- AT WHAT AGE DO KIDS INTIFY AS GAY?
- GAY TT FOR MAL AG 12-16
- GAY TT FOR BOYS AG 12 TO 16
- AM I GAY? (QUIZ FOR TEENAGE BOYS)
- IS YOUR CHILD GAY?
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR CHILD SAYS: "I'M GAY"
* 12 years gay *
When parents learn that their child is gay, lbian, bisexual, or transgenr, they n experience a range of emotns. As a matter of fact, you might someday look back and fd that you are grateful for the experience of havg a gay or lbian child. Well, my study of 65 fai of gay and lbian youth for the book, Comg Out, Comg Home: Helpg Fai Adjt to a Gay or Lbian Child, I found that some parents get to the pot where they believe that the experience of havg a gay child actually ma them a better person—more open-md and sensive to the needs of others, particularly those other mory groups.
If you jt found out your child is gay, lbian, bisexual, or transgenr, you may be thkg that such ias are prepostero.
GAY YOUTH COMG OUT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL
One of the ma issu wh trackg when kids intify as gay is that most people assume that all kids start out straight. * 12 years gay *
The tstworthy nfidants let them vent but also rrected some of the misperceptns they absorbed om society, such as that gay people are lonely, unhappy, promiscuo, not fay-oriented, unable to have children, or sted for an unhappy life.
Contact Parents, Fay, and Friends of Lbians and Gays (PFLAG). List of Helpful Books for Parents of Gay and Lbian Children.
Straight Parents Gay Children: Keepg Fai Together (revised edn). Beyond Acceptance: Parents of Lbians, and Gays Talk About Their Experienc.
12-YEAR-OLD'S IENDS DIDN'T CELEBRATE AFTER HE ME OUT AS GAY. SO A PARK FULL OF STRANGERS DID
Somethg to Tell You: The Road Fai Travel when a Child is Gay.
Comg Out, Comg Home: Helpg Fai Adjt to a Gay or Lbian Child. Fortunate Fai: Catholic fai wh lbian dghters and gay sons.
Mom, Dad, I'm Gay: How Fai Negotiate Comg Out. “You serly have a problem wh people beg gay? “So you’re homophobic?
AT WHAT AGE DO KIDS INTIFY AS GAY?
“So you jt blatantly adm to beg homophobic? “She’s gay and you blatantly said you don’t support gay people, ” he ntu, drivg his pot home.
He go on another vio to try to expla that not all LGBTQ people are gay his own 12-year-old way, but didn’t seem to nvce the other players. ##htryghisbt #homophobia ##brothers♬ origal sound – LtleCanary. @bummblebeo__that’s my boy ##brothers #homophobia ##lgbt ##A+♬ origal sound – LtleCanary.
Pastor tells flock homosexualy is a “monic spir” stealg Christian children. Catholic school revers cisn to fire a gay ach after stunts ept anger. Are people who e out as gay their teens sted to face rejectn, bullyg and inty crisis?
GAY TT FOR MAL AG 12-16
MARTIN: Now, how did you notice this trend of younger and younger children intifyg themselv as gay?
You mentned the piece that you are a gay man. I read a lot about youth culture and I was talkg to tors and, you know, lears of gay youth groups and they were all sayg the same thg. 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.
You know, recent studi are showg that kids are self-intifyg as gay anywhere om 13 to 16.
GAY TT FOR BOYS AG 12 TO 16
The other realy is that 's still very difficult for a lot of gay kids to be out middle school. 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. You say, look, on the one hand, is an eighth-grar who says he's gay jt experimentg?
AM I GAY? (QUIZ FOR TEENAGE BOYS)
If sexualy is so fluid, should he really box himself wh a gay inty? But you say that when to kids who say that they are gay, 's almost like we want to talk them out of . 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?
IS YOUR CHILD GAY?
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. 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.
You know, I'm gog to try beg gay for a ltle while. 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 .
You know, granted I lived San Francis, but none of my iends were gay, or none of the kids my age were gay. There were still not a lot of posive portrayals of gay and lbian life televisn.