Gay adolcent? No, normal teenager, says Cornell expert on teen sexualy, assertg that old labels no longer apply | Cornell Chronicle

Contents:

• GAY AND BISEXUAL ADOLCENT BOYS' SEXUAL EXPERIENC WH MEN: AN EMPIRIL EXAMATN OF PSYCHOLOGIL RRELAT A NONCLIL SAMPLE
• GAY ADOLCENT? NO, NORMAL TEENAGER, SAYS CORNELL EXPERT ON TEEN SEXUALY, ASSERTG THAT OLD LABELS NO LONGER APPLY
• GAY AND BISEXUAL ADOLCENT BOYS' PERSPECTIV ON PARENT-ADOLCENT RELATNSHIPS AND PARENTG PRACTIC RELATED TO TEEN SEX AND DATG
• THE GAY ADOLCENT: STRSORS, ADAPTATNS, AND PSYCHOSOCIAL TERVENTNS
• GAY TEENS STOCK PHOTOS AND IMAG
• NEW STUDY OF GAY/BISEXUAL ADOLCENT MEN AND THEIR PARENTS
• 12 BOOKS FOR GAY TEENS WHO HAVE JT COME OUT

GAY AND BISEXUAL ADOLCENT BOYS' SEXUAL EXPERIENC WH MEN: AN EMPIRIL EXAMATN OF PSYCHOLOGIL RRELAT A NONCLIL SAMPLE

Th, even willg sexual relatns between gay or bisexual adolcent boys and adult men, which differ om father-dghter ct many important ways, are generally seen by the lay public and profsnals as trmatizg and psychologilly jur. "The new gay teenager is many rpects the non-gay teenager, " says Rch Sav-Williams, profsor and chair of human velopment Cornell's College of Human Elogy his new book, The New Gay Teenager (Harvard Universy Prs, 2005).

Sav-Williams argu that the majory of young people who engage gay sex nsir themselv heterosexual and that the majory of youths wh same-sex attractns do not ll themselv gay. Such labels as "gay" no longer work when scribg young people's sexualy, he says, bee some teens have same-sex csh but don't act on them or ll them "gay love affairs. In fact, he says, between 15 and 20 percent of adolcents have some gree of same-sex orientatn, yet only 3 to 4 percent embrace a gay or bisexual inty or report same-sex activi.

As such, the goal of the current study was to exame parent-adolcent relatnships and parentg practic related to teen sex and datg om the perspective of gay/bisexual adolcent mal. For gay/bisexual youth, parental relatnships n have profound impacts on sexual inty velopment, the abili to form and mata secure relatnships, and health out (Cook & Calebs, 2016; Rosar, 2015). Given the importance of parent-child relatnships and the unique challeng experienced by gay/bisexual youth, is cril to unrstand if and how parents fluence their sexual behavr.

GAY ADOLCENT? NO, NORMAL TEENAGER, SAYS CORNELL EXPERT ON TEEN SEXUALY, ASSERTG THAT OLD LABELS NO LONGER APPLY

Given that parent-adolcent relatnships are often straed for gay/bisexual youth (Floyd, Ste, Harter, Allison, & Nye, 1999; Mtanski, Newb, & Garofalo, 2011; Ryan et al., 2009; Sav-Williams, 2003), parents of gay/bisexual youth may be ls likely to talk about sex, pecially if they feel unknowledgeable about or unfortable wh same-sex sexualy.

Further, most parents of gay/bisexual youth do not share the same sexual orientatn wh their child and may be challengg for them to help their child navigate the domas of sex and datg if they are unaware of the unique aspects of same-sex relatnships (e. Although limed number, studi are begng to fd that parental fluenc on sexual behavr operate differently for gay/bisexual adolcent mal pared to their heterosexual peers. In another study, young gay/bisexual mal and their parents both scribed parent-adolcent closens as protective agast sexual risk behavr (LaSala, 2015) and over half of the youth dited that fay members fluenced their sexual behavr.

Parental monorg is ls effective wh youth who are volved ntexts that are unfaiar to parents (Dishn & McMahon, 1998), makg challengg for parents to monor gay/bisexual youth whout tn about how to do so (e. Parental monorg has received very ltle attentn among gay/bisexual youth, but Thoma and Huebner (2014) found that was associated wh more ndomls sex for YMSM who were out to one parent and those who were uncerta if their parents knew their sexual orientatn. They suggted that monorg may not work for parents of YMSM, bee the youth may be dishont about their whereabouts, pecially if they perceive their parents as not acceptg their sexual sum, rearch is begng to document how parents fluence sexual risk behavr among gay/bisexual mal, but there are cril gaps.

GAY AND BISEXUAL ADOLCENT BOYS' PERSPECTIV ON PARENT-ADOLCENT RELATNSHIPS AND PARENTG PRACTIC RELATED TO TEEN SEX AND DATG

Adolcence is a cril time to unrstand parental fluenc on sexual behavr among gay/bisexual mal, bee self-intifitn as gay/bisexual tends to occur durg this perd (Dunlap, 2016; Martos, Nezhad, & Meyer, 2015) and adolcence volv profound psychologil, social, and sexual change (Jsor, 1992; Mtanski, Kuper, & Greene, 2014). Further, if gay/bisexual youth are not out to their parents, then parents are likely to assume that they are heterosexual and provi aquate sexual health tn. Fally, ltle is known about several important aspects of parent-child relatnships among gay/bisexual adolcent mal, cludg their perceptns of whether or not their sexual orientatn fluenc their relatnships wh their parents, discsns about sex/datg, and parental monorg.

We were terted the adolcent perspective on: (1) if and how sexual orientatn fluenc parent-adolcent relatnships, munitn about sex/datg, and parental monorg; (b) what parents say to gay/bisexual adolcent mal about sex/datg; and (c) how parents monor gay/bisexual adolcent mal' datg experienc. E., assigned male at birth and currently intify as male); (b) be 14-17 years old; (c) intify as gay, bisexual, queer, qutng, or same-sex attracted; (d) have phone and Inter accs; and (e) live the US. Advertisements targeted adolcent mal who dited romantic tert mal on their Facebook profile or who listed terts relevant to gay/bisexual youth (e.

G., transportatn, ncerns about meetg an unfaiar place, ncerns about publicly intifyg onelf as part of a stigmatized group) (Fox, Morris, & Rumsey, 2007) and a group format was chosen to facilate a sense of belongg and muny among gay/bisexual youth (Greene, Fisher, Kuper, Andrews, & Mtanski, 2015; Ybarra, DuBois, Parsons, Prtt, & Mtanski, 2014).

THE GAY ADOLCENT: STRSORS, ADAPTATNS, AND PSYCHOSOCIAL TERVENTNS

” Beg gay/bisexual has the potential to fluence how an adolcent perceiv their relatnships wh their parents regardls of whether or not they are out to their parents. RultsOur analys revealed three ma them: (1) beg gay/bisexual had both posive and negative effects on parent-adolcent relatnships; (2) beg gay/bisexual fluenced parentg practic (e.

G., munitn about sex, monorg); and (3) beg gay/bisexual fluenced the domas regardls of whether or not youth were out to their parents, although there were some unique fluenc for those who were not out. For stance, a 17 year-old, Whe, gay male who was out to his parents scribed as: “Me and my parents don't really do thgs like we ed to before I me out to them and sce then 's like they kd of avoid me.

He and I were argug once and he lled me and my ex ‘faggots' and that’s the worst I've ever been mad at him” (15 years old, Whe, gay, out to parents). -15 years old, Whe, gay, out to parentsIn ntrast, 10% reported that their sexual orientatn had a posive impact on their relatnships wh their parents. For example, a 16 year-old, Black, gay male scribed an experience wh his grandmother (who was his guardian): “… sce g out I feel like thgs between me and my grandmother has ma thg even better between .

GAY TEENS STOCK PHOTOS AND IMAG

” Another adolcent scribed that was ially awkward between him and his parents after he me out, but improved wh time: “At first me beg gay was a ltle awkward bee they didn't really know how to act about or how to ask about relatnships but after I had a uple boyiends 's pretty normal…” (17 year-old, Lato, gay, out to parents) addnal 8% reported that their sexual orientatn had a posive impact on their relatnship wh one parent, but a negative impact on their relatnship wh another parent. I thk beg gay mak me and my mom closer bee she lov gay guys -year-old, Black, gay, out to parentsFally, 26% reported that their sexual orientatn did not impact their relatnships wh their parents. A 17 year-old, Whe, gay male said: “Me beg gay do not affect my relatnship wh any of them sce they have an open md and said they love no matter what.

NEW STUDY OF GAY/BISEXUAL ADOLCENT MEN AND THEIR PARENTS

”For adolcents who were not out to their parents, beg gay/bisexual still had an impact on their relatnships wh their parents and was almost always a negative impact. The youth typilly exprsed ncern that their relatnships wh their parents would change if they me out, often scribg experienc where their parents ma homophobic ments.

-16, Whe, gay, not out to parentsAlthough most youth who were not out to their parents exprsed ncern that their parents would not approve of their sexual orientatn, one scribed that he had not e out to his parents bee he jt was not ready yet: “I am que close wh my parents and feel like I uld really tell them anythg if I need to…. I jt haven't fully e out due to the fact I jt don't feel ready to say but I know I uld if I need to…” (14 years-old, Whe, gay) of sexual orientatn on parent-adolcent munitn about sex/datgMost adolcents (76%) reported that beg gay/bisexual had an fluence on nversatns wh their parents about sex and datg (Table 2).

For stance, one adolcent said that, although his parents were supportive of his sexual orientatn, “beg gay kda affects our relatnship bee we n't talk about certa thgs I would like to talk about wh them” (16 years old, Lato, gay, out to parents) youth who were out to their parents, nversatns about sex/datg typilly changed after g out. The nversatn was way different bee wh me beg gay they never want answers to the qutns they ask, but when they thought I was straight they were always enuragg me to engage wh femal.

12 BOOKS FOR GAY TEENS WHO HAVE JT COME OUT

-years old, Lato, gay, out to parentsSome adolcents perceived their parents as beg more terted and supportive of their heterosexual siblgs' datg experienc. For stance, one said: “As far as relatnships go I've only had one which end up on the guy cheatg on me and basilly my mom told me that I shouldn't let him get the bt of me and that there will be another guy eventually” (17 years old, Lato, gay, out to parents).

Siarly, another scribed: “… one effect [beg gay] has would be the fact that I don't necsarily share everythg wh them (stuff like beg the gsa [Gay Straight Alliance] at school, csh, etc” (15 years-old, Amerin Indian/Alaska Native, gay).

Siarly, another said: “… my mom tells me to jt wa till marriage [to have sex] or until I fd ‘the guy’ and if I don't wa at least let her know so I n be safe” (17 years old, Lato, gay, out to parents).