NY Times Mag covers tough lives of young gay teens
”It was a whole big drama at school. Some guys made fun of us, others hit on us. Most middle-school guys are total, complete morons.”
Kera, a girl who tells the NY Times that she was 10 when she realized she was bisexual, and was caught off guard by bullies when she and another girl began dating. (NY Times)
”It seems like I spent the entire year in the principal’s office trying to get them to protect my son. But they would say things like, ‘Well, what did he do to provoke them?’ We live in a very conservative area with very vocal parents, and I believe the school didn’t want to be seen as going out of their way at all to protect a gay student.”
Nadia, mother of 15-year-old Austin in Michigan, who says she took a job as a lunch lady at her gay son’s school to watch over him after he came out. He says that in 8th grade he was called ”fag” every day. (NY Times)
”No one says to [boys who like girls]: ‘Are you sure? You’re too young to know if you like girls. It’s probably just a phase. But that’s what we say too often to gay youth. We deny them their feelings and truth in a way we would never do with a heterosexual young person.”
Eileen Ross of the Outlet Program, a Mountain View, CA youth program. (NY Times)
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