Coming Out in Middle School

[Jay]

I haven't read the whole article yet but thought folks here would be interested.

here is the first paragraph.

Austin didn't know what to wear to his first gay dance last spring. It was bad enough that the gangly 13-year-old from Sand Springs, Okla., had to go without his boyfriend at the time, a 14-year-old star athlete at another middle school, but there were also laundry issues. “I don't have any clean clothes!” he complained to me by text message, his favored method of communication.

 

and here is a link.

[Drewbie]

I haven't read the whole article yet but thought folks here would be interested.

here is the first paragraph.

 

 

and here is a link.

 

Thanks for sharing good to hear it's getting easier for some, feeling comftable

[Nephylim]

My daughter came out at her school when she was 12. She didn't have a girlfriend at the time but she was very sure. In retrospect she had been sure long before that but was still exploring the options. She never had any problems. All her friends accepted her completely and from age 16 she seemed to be surrounded by a group of friends who were roughly half gay and half straight, all open and out. I appreciate how lucky we both are... me for having such a strong and brave daughter and she for having such open minded and supportive friends.

[Zeoanne]

Funny, I just posted the link in the "Oklahoma" thread. Thanks for making the individual post though. It is a very interesting article and everyone should read it and share the link with all their friends and family. Let awareness spread globally!

[Y_B]

Thanks for sharing.

 

I kinda wish there had been something like that when I was that age.

 

School dances were lots of fun, and my friends were great, but I always wondered what it would have been like to get asked or ask someone to a non-hetero dance.

[Zeoanne]

Here's a link for the GLSEN newsletter...

GLSEN First LGBT-Issues Focused Organization to Join America's Promise Alliance...

 

http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/news/record/2469.html

Edited September 24, 2009 by Rush

[Benji]

Thanks for sharing.

 

I kinda wish there had been something like that when I was that age.

 

School dances were lots of fun, and my friends were great, but I always wondered what it would have been like to get asked or ask someone to a non-hetero dance.

 

......Humm, to think if you are reminisesing, and your only 20!! ....The torch was passed, who knew it would go down to so young!!

[Lugh]

That was actually a pretty interesting article. I knew kids were coming out earlier, but just not how many, sheesh, pretty soon they are going to be saying it's 1 in 5! Although quite honestly I'm glad to see the GSAs in the middle schools and tolerance being taught to both students and administration. I'm quite tired of hearing "that's so gay" from the kiddos myself and won't tolerate the phrase being uttered in my presence, most especially by my son.

[Rilbur]

Indeed, courts

[Krista]

I'm glad stories like these aren't as few and far between as they used to be, but acceptance like this is still quite rare.

[Y_B]

Man, Austin is such a trooper. Not only did he decide to come out at such a young and vulnerable age, but there is a picture of him on the web for the world to see. I don't think I could do that at my age, and certainly not at his.

 

There is so much from this article that gives hope to the rest of the country, if not the world. Kids should not be neglected of their feelings, and yes a 13 years old has just as much emotions to elicit as the rest of the age spectrum. Denying them of the opportunity to express those emotions, or worse, criticizing them, could be devastating to a child. I whole heartedly hope that more and more kids can come to terms with themselves sooner, less uncomfortably and with lots and lots of support. They all deserve it.

[KJames]

I wish my High School, nevermind JHS, had a GSA running back between '77 and '80...would've made things a lot easier...