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:
- MEET THE MIDDLE'S SUPER-STEREOTYPIL GAY CHARACTER
- GAY YOUTH COMG OUT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL
- COLORADO MOM SAYS 9-YEAR-OLD SON WHO CAME OUT AS GAY DIED BY SUICI AFTER SCHOOL BULLYG
- GAY KIDS COMG OUT YOUNGER, BUT PARENTS ASK "HOW DO YOU KNOW?"
- CHILD STAR STGGLED TO E OUT AFTER PLAYG ‘THE GAY KID’ ‘SCHOOL OF ROCK’
MEET THE MIDDLE'S SUPER-STEREOTYPIL GAY CHARACTER
Recently, televisn has been pretty good about showg realistic gay characters, but then sometim we are thrown a curveball. Wh exaggerated facial exprsns and a proment lisp, The Middle's Brad is that curveball. * gay kid from the middle *
Recently, televisn has been pretty good about showg realistic gay characters, but then sometim we are thrown a curveball.
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 kid from the middle *
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.
COLORADO MOM SAYS 9-YEAR-OLD SON WHO CAME OUT AS GAY DIED BY SUICI AFTER SCHOOL BULLYG
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 KIDS COMG OUT YOUNGER, BUT PARENTS ASK "HOW DO YOU KNOW?"
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 .
CHILD STAR STGGLED TO E OUT AFTER PLAYG ‘THE GAY KID’ ‘SCHOOL OF ROCK’
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?