The Tarheel Writer

The
Tarheel Writer
Proudly Presents

Just for Teens
This page last updated
Friday, November 10, 2006

It ROCKS to be GAY! You are the dude! You have more balls than anybody else!
Acceptance ...

Accepting that you are gay, lesbian or bisexual is not easy. Nobody wakes up and decides they want to be straight and nobody wakes up and decides they want to be gay either. Our sexual orientation is not a choice. We're born that way. You can no more change it than tell the sun not to shine. You can deny it. You can hide it. You can keep it in the closet. But it will still be there. It's not going away.

There's those funny feelings you get when you see that one particular boy. A sudden twing when you see a bare chest. Maybe the lockerroom has suddenly become a place to recite mathmatical theorms to keep things from "popping up." These are all signs that your orientation is making itself known.

Accepting that this is a part of who you are is a huge struggle for most teens. Hell, it's a huge struggle for anyone at any age, but sexual orientation usually makes itself known around puberty. Some people choose to deny that part of themselves and live a "straight" life. Some people embrace it and accept it with open arms. And some people are so distraught over it, they choose to simply end their life. This last way is NOT the way! If you've even considered it for a brief second, please visit the suicide page. No matter what you've done ... no matter what you've thought about doing ... no matter what's been done to you or what you've done to someone else ... suicide is not a choice to consider.

You are NOT alone in this world. There are other people going through exactly the same thing. Waking up in the morning and putting on your happy face and going to school is tough. Hiding the feelings and emotions does nothing but allow them to build up inside. The more they build up, the harder they are to deal with. Who You Are Does Make a Difference!

The links below will help you understand what people have gone through and are going through. You can read actual accounts of people going through what you're going through. You're not alone in this! There are literally thousands of teens, young adults and even adults struggling the the same thing.

     From the Mail Crew Home Page ... We all spend time on the Internet. We have cyber friends all over the world. That lets us know we’re not alone, as gay, lesbian, bi, or not-sure teens, and that's good. But, we need local contacts, too.
     Unless they’re out, you probably don’t know, yet, who most of the gay students are in your school, since only about 20%, or less, of gays "act gay."
     Our purpose is to encourage communication on a school-by-school basis. Get to know the gay, lesbian, bi, and not-sure kids in your own school. Bring it home. Spend some e-mail, IM, and chat time with your peers right there in your locality. Learn that it's okay to be you on your own turf.
     On this site we’ll share what we’ve learned from starting and leading our own e-mail group, which we call askusnow2003, and from helping other groups get underway. If your school doesn’t have a group like ours, we hope you’ll start one.
     We’ll also provide links to useful sites and stories, and files of some stories that we think are the best of the best. Now, let’s get busy at home, in our own schools, and build acceptance and understanding, of ourselves and of one another. Let’s encourage gay-gay and gay-straight friendships that have real substance and meaning. Let's get to know and love our not-straight brothers and sisters, at home, in our own schools.

Gay-Straight Alliance Network is a youth-led organization that connects school-based Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) to each other and community resources. Through peer support, leadership development, and training, GSA Network supports young people in starting, strengthening, and sustaining GSAs and builds the capacity of GSAs to create safe environments in schools for students to support each other and learn about homophobia and other oppressions, educate the school community about homophobia, gender identity, and sexual orientation issues, and fight discrimination, harassment, and violence in schools.

Being gay and a youth can be difficult, especially in the conservative community of Charlotte, North Carolina. That is why Time Out Youth is here. Time Out Youth provides a refuge for those between the ages of 13 and 23 years old. They offer support programs that allow you to cope with all that life throws at you.

Mogenic is a special place on the net where gay and lesbian youth have the freedom to exchange ideas, share experiences, discuss coming out, make friends, read interesting content and most importantly: make contact.

Scouting for All is not against the Boy Scouts of America. In fact our organization was founded by an Eagle Scout and our team is made up mostly of Eagle Scouts and prior BSA members. Scouting for All opposes a policy that is harmful to youth, discriminatory, and bigoted, which BSA National in Irving, Texas imposes on all of its members. The BSA National leadership has corrupted both the Scout Oath and Law. We are just trying to change that. Lord Baden Powell the founder of the world scouting movement in 1907, intended scouting to be for all youth not just some youth. In fact where scouting was founded, in England, Girls, Atheists / Freethinkers, and Gays are accepted into the program. If you also believe in Scouting you'll not sit back and ignore the discrimination of the BSA, but step forth and speak out. Support Scouting for All for healing change within the Boy Scouts of America.

YouthResource, a Web site created by and for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) young people 13 to 24 years old, takes a holistic approach to sexual health by offering support, community, resources, and peer-to-peer education about issues of concern to GLBTQ young people. YouthResource has four focus areas: health, advocacy, community, and issues in our lives.

"I think I might be gay ... now what do I do?" What does it mean to be gay? How do I know if I'm gay? Will I ever have sex? What about AIDS? Who should I tell? These are a few of the questions that this site answers. Check it out.

OutProud, The National Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Youth, serves the needs of young men and women by providing advocacy, information, resources and support. Their goal is to help queer youth become happy, successful, confident and vital gay, lesbian and bisexual adults.

Youth Source is a pretty kewl site with lots of resources for teens. It may be overseas for you, but the resources available apply to anybody anywhere. Check it out!

SEX!!
Here's a page of "how to" and not a page about "deciding" whether or not to. Learning the how to's about sex with your partner can be fun, but you can also get hurt ... physically. This page gives you the advice I've found to work for the enjoyment of both people involved. I'm not saying go do it but, I also realize that a lot of people do. This page will be for those of you who do. The page isn't complete yet, but I'm working on it! It takes lots of practice. LOL!

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