How to tell if a teenager is gay
Over at Slate, Brian Palmer has a meditation on gay persona and behaviors in young people &#; especially timely at a point where we&#;re increasingly attentive that &#;acting gay&#; can be dangerous for kids, like it was for Lawrence King. Palmer&#;s ask is: we&#;re worried about our kids being gay-bullied at childish ages, but we&#;ve only recently begun even thinking about young kids being out or gay at all. How can you relate, and how early? For instance, he mentions one of the plaintiffs in the court case about the proliferation of bullying in Minnesota &#; he&#;s only fourteen, and hasn&#;t declared a sexual orientation but is still a victim of antigay bullying. If we can agree that antigay bullying is now a problem for our children, does that mean we can accept that our children can be gay, even at young ages?
Well, probably we&#;re not going to be able to agree on much of this article at all. Palmer starts with the assertion that gayness (behavior? identity? unclear) can be noted as early as toddler-hood, which is certainly possible and which I&#;m willing to entertain. But t
By guest blogger, Ian Taylor.
Help, I ponder my child may be gay. What should I do? Am I right? Whereas I am no way homophobic, I don&#;t grasp how I will react if it&#;s true&#;
It is understandable that every parent has concerns or questions regarding whether their child maybe lesbian, gay, multi-attracted and/or transgender (LGBT), considering the earth we live and today; and especially if the parent starts to witness one or two signs.
In this article, we answer some of the most troubling questions you may have if you suspect that your child may be gay or bisexual.
Are the suspicions starting to build?
If I consider that my teen might be queer attracted, how should I talk to them about it? They mentioned the subject several times, so I&#;m getting concerned.
Until your kid comes and tells you that they are, or might be LGBT, you can’t know. Aim not to form assumptions and leave them come and tell you in their own period. Create a positive environment where your child feels proficient to talk to you about their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. For example, say positive things abo
Book Excerpt: Is Your Youngster Gay?
Excerpted fromWhy Is the Penis Shaped Like That? … And Other Reflections on Being Human, by Jesse Bering, by arrangement with Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC (North America), Transworld Ltd (UK), Jorge Zahara Editora Ltda (Brazil). Copyright © by Jesse Bering.
We all perceive the stereotypes: an unusually light, delicate, effeminate wind in a little boy's step, an interest in dolls, makeup, princesses and dresses, and a powerful distaste for rough perform with other boys. In little girls, there is the outwardly boyish stance, perhaps a penchant for tools, a square-jawed readiness for physical tussles with boys, and an aversion to all the perfumed, delicate trappings of femininity.
These behavioral patterns are feared, loathed and often spoken of directly as harbingers of adult homosexuality. It is only relatively recently, however, that developmental scientists have conducted controlled studies to identify the earliest and most reliable signs of adult homosexuality. In looking carefully at the childhoods of gay adults,
As I relayed in When Your Child Is Gay: What You Need To Know (Sterling, ), I found out that my son was gay from a note with our son's name entwined with another boy's, surrounded by a heart. I accidentally found that note in his room when I was cleaning.
I never questioned him about the heart I found on the sly. How would I have brought it up? Suppose I was wrong? After all, he had a crush on a girl in his class.
I had suspected at times that he was gay. He only had girls to his thirteenth birthday party. He preferred gentler sports. He was always concerned about how he looked and followed fashion. Were these stereotypical thoughts from a unbent mother? You bet, but it was ingrained through the culture's binary system and ideas about how males were "supposed to" behave.
As it turns out, our son didn't reach out until he was 17, was on his own, and brought a boyfriend to visit. Had I asked him if he were gay when he was 13, he probably would have defensively said "No!" He had to work it out and work through his denial. I'm glad I muzzled myself.
Susan Berland, the mother o