High school is a challengg time for most teens. It n be even more so for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr stunts. Judy Chiasson of the Los Angel Unified School District and Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lbian and Straight Edutn Network talk about beg openly LGBT school.
Contents:
- SUPPORTG A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE MIDDLE SCHOOL
- GAY YOUTH COMG OUT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL
- WHAT'S LIFE LIKE FOR GAY KIDS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
SUPPORTG A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE MIDDLE SCHOOL
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. * gay experience in middle school *
Have you ever had a gay experience middle or high school? 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).
This is a key perd for lbian, gay, and bisexual stunts: The children one survey reported beg “attracted to another person of the same genr at about age 10. Lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, or queer (LGBTQ) youths are “more than four tim as likely to attempt suici” as heterosexual kids. 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.
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. I had my first gay experience wh my child hood bt iend that lived down the road om me I thk we were about 8 or 9 years old. Are people who e out as gay their teens sted to face rejectn, bullyg and inty crisis?
GAY YOUTH COMG OUT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL
* gay experience in middle school *
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.
WHAT'S LIFE LIKE FOR GAY KIDS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
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?
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?