it's already difficult beeing a teenager but can u imagine living as a teen and being gay ?

Not "imagine". I have a very good memory.

scififilmnerd said:

cool ^

mrdespues said:

MrSquiggle said:

come on guys i'm being serious

ElectricLover said:

In some ways, it's a better time to be gay or bi or lesbian and a teen then ever before. Things are still difficult, no doubt, with verbal and physical harassment still rampant, and the threat of being kicked out if you come out to parents. But there's greater visibility than ever, and youth activists have more lgbt groups, proms and straight/gay alliances going for them to make things somewhat better. No utopia but....

JCinNYC2003 said:

True. Gay youths that are given the chance and have the heart will have to re-evaluate their entire existence. Growing up in a heterosexual environment is very hard when not given at least the option of being gay without it being stigmatised as something bad.

ElectricLover said:

And being is gay is not so different than being straight. You still fall in love, have crushes.

The possibility to act upon them is just restricted by narrowminded straight culture.

scififilmnerd said:

I must admit that even though I was called 'sissy' quite often becuz of the fact I was more sensitive I did not have many problems with being gay besides the fact ti was not offered to me as an option when growing up.

I had a very easy come out at 16.

gooeythehamster said:

I started coming out when I was, like 17, but only to dear friends. I didn't come out to my family until in my early twenties.

Well, I was scared of how they'd react. I come from a working class family and had heard some pretty homophobic statements from them throughout my teen years. They were initially shocked, but didn't cast me out or anything, and most of them (the females) are pretty cool with it now.

scififilmnerd said:

I didn't come out until I was 28

Still, I've more than made up for it in the last 6 years

Being gay, and a teenager, and in the closet sucks!

scififilmnerd said:

Me too!!!

Haystack said:

It sure does!

I was one of the "lucky" ones. I grew up in a very accepting family.

My oldest sister came out when I was 11. We found out my dad was gay when I was 14. I started coming out to friends the summer I turned 16. Then, my other sister and I came out to each other later that year. We raced to see who'd have the nerve to come out to my mom first (of the 2 of us) cos neither of us wanted to be the last of the kids to come out. It was only fair that the 2nd sister went first. By the time I came out to my mom, the trauma was over in all of 10 minutes. She was angry then just was like "be safe and be happy- let me know if you need condoms." Such a cool mom, we haven't figured out what's wrong with her though, being straight and all, i still hope it's only a phase

Oddly enough, in this goofy family, my "gay dad" was the furthest from being an ally to us kids and I have no contact with him now.

Anywho, back to the point. In spite of the incredibly accepting home environment I had, it was still rough. I had alligned myself with the freaks/punks/whatevs in my high school, so I did have accepting friends. Still, it was a daily occurance to be spit at, taunted, shoved into lockers and all that fun stuff. It was tough, I was moody and depressed (but what teen isn't?) So, I toughed through the rough years and got the hell away from my high school as soon as I could.

For the "unlucky" teens though, those with little or no support network, it's gotta be hard. So hard. For those that survive, I think it wisens them up to the world and helps them become very strong people. Still, too many don't survive and either commit suicide or succumb to a life of addiction. But, times are a-changing and the support continues to grow so someday being a gay teen will hopefully be no different than anything else....

irresistibleb1tch said:

Hey honey!!!!

irresistibleb1tch said:

yes i regret not coming out earlier (at the age of 21), i hate the fact that i mentally cowered to the bigots, but there were plenty of them around me at the time.

In my teens it was the start of the Aids epidemic being reported in the uk (never forgive the Daily Mail) and the gay plague tag didnt help. Plus with Thatchers section 28 in 1988 being implemented and camp/effeminate gays being the only gay people seen in the media made me feel very isolated.

scififilmnerd said:

The line that was used by my brother in law to be and his friends was; "Yer not a faggot, are ya?" To insinuate weakness. They used it all the time.

Unti one dayl I said, "Well, actually....I am, does that matter?"

Never heard it again...

I am still introduced on birthdays (after intoxication) as; "Here's out favourite faggot!" I have learnt to ignore it. They are just drunk ignorant mechanics that love me in their own peculiar way.

Actually, my mom was the kewlest. She just said, "O boy, I knew THAT when you were three..."

Turns out she predicted that I would come home with a guy based on my sensitivity.

That and my obsession with Big Jim. Did you have him in Scandinavia?

spoida said:

I used to do that. Now I am 33 and I just enjoy life to the fullest. Fuck the biggots, hehehe

And ditto on the aids scare. It kept us from burstin out of the closet earlier, although I think people are ready when they are ready, not when people think you should be.
Fuck them too.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

hi supa dahling!

gooeythehamster said:

Uh, never heard of him before, so I dunno. Who is he? A TV character or something?