Kev Maxen be first male ach a US men’s pro sports league to publicly e out as gay | CNN

Contents:

• RULTS FOR : GAY YOUNG IENDS
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• RULTS FOR : GAY YOUNG IENDS CUM

RULTS FOR : GAY YOUNG IENDS

It's no secret that growg up gay n be a lonely experience.

At tim, many gay men feel as though they're the only on experiencg certa thoughts and feelgs, on that society still often ems abnormal. So when a gay man first bonds wh someone else who intifi as gay or queer, 's evably a total lightng bolt moment. One's first LGBTQ iendship is often super-tense; fact, that person n bee jt as important as a first romantic partner.I'm no longer close wh my first gay iend, Jam, bee we're very different people now.

But I still remember clumsily g out to him after a Le Tigre ncert and him sayg, "I thk I'm gay, too." In the months that followed, we weren't always as kd to one another as we should have been, but we absolutely helped each other to accept our sexualy.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Here, their own words, are three men's stori of their first queer iendships.Josh, on AlexWhen I first saw Alex the smokg area at my new llege, I was like, "Oh my God, who is that?" He was hot—I thk everyone thought so—but I didn't thk he was gay. Then we started chattg and he said "I'm gay" the most offhand way.

He didn't still a sense of ternalized homophobia me, which was important bee I was a mpy gay guy who'd always been teased for beg mpy. After three s of not feelg like I f anywhere, this ltle moment of acknowledgement om another LGBTQ person meant a lot.Sce then I've met other bi people at Pri events, but Charlie's still my clost "queer peer." He gave me the permissn to be myself when I didn't even know who that was.Bill, on DeanI grew up a small nservative town and didn't know anyone gay at school, so I met my first gay iends through social media. A mpg trip turns to a ral gay fantasy Yuma X's new mic vio, "Secret Lover.

The day I started llectg data for my book The Declg Signifince of Homophobia: How Teenage Boys Are Refg Masculy and Heterosexualy, I was nervo about how I would experience the next year of my life. Back then, teenage boys were homophobic, misogynistic, and aggrsive.

RULTS FOR : GAY YOUNG IENDS CUM

They distanced themselv om anythg emed gay or feme.