Youth Guide

Leadership & wellness for all youth

There’s Still Time Before School To Have Fun As a Gay Teen

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The summer is a great time to be a gay teen. Why? Because it’s not really about being gay. You get to walk around with your shirt off, meet cute guys and pretty much have the time of your life — in a world that’s all about adventure and excitement. There’s something about summer that makes us feel really chilled out, laid back, and ready to have a good time. If you’re facing a lot of discrimination and panic in your local community, there’s no reason to think that it has to ruin your summer fun. Detach yourself form the idea that there are only some forms of fun that are approved for you. If you want to go surfing in your local community but you’re worried that people are going to call you names, ignore them. You can be a surfer even if you’re gay.

The thing about deigning your life as a gay teen is that it’s not about your orientation. You’re an amazing person with a lot to offer the world. There are just sometimes where you can’t really worry too much about how people think about you. You need to think more about the life that you really want to live. If that means that you want to be a gay surfer, you can do that — without thinking about how you’re going to look. You should never be ashamed of who you are, or what you want. You just need to make sure that you claim the life that you’ve always wanted.

Summer is a good time for camping. It’s going to be just you and all of your friends. There’s plenty of night cover too, if you want to sneak off to kiss that cute guy without everyone knowing about it. Don’t be shy – he probably wants to kiss you too!

Campfires, cooking, living out under the stars — what could be better than that? When we go back to nature, we really connect with people that care about us, outside of the busy hectic nature of the world.

Take some time and let yourself just enjoy the world around you. Check it out on your own time, you won’t be disappointed. Good luck!

Nervous To Come Back to School as an Openly Gay Teen – Don’t Be!

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Are you dreading going back to school? Does the idea of having to go back to school after coming out of the closet and admitting that you’re a gay teen scaring the daylights out of you? I don’t blame you at all for this level of fear. Every time you open a newspaper or check out online news, there’s another case of bullying. If straight kids are going through it, then you better believe that gay teens are going through it. We don’t say this to try to be ugly, but we are trying to tell you the truth around here. Being a gay teen is hard, but it’s not impossible. One of the top things that you need to do over the summer is develop your own mind. You might lose friends over it, but who cares?

You’re going to be doing the right thing for you, and that’s really what matters in the grand scheme of things. You cannot work on yourself without improving your self-esteem. When your self-esteem gets high enough, you stop caring so much what people think. In the grand scheme of things, what your high school buddies think about your attitude really doesn’t matter. Chances are good that everyone is going to eventually go their separate ways anyway. This means that they have no real bearing on your life. You’re going to have to get used to rejection in your life anyway. No matter how nice of a person you are, there’s going to be times where people aren’t going to like you.

Instead of focusing on the people that don’t like you, you should try focusing on the people that like you. If you step back and really look at your experience, you’ll find that it really isn’t so bad. There are plenty of people that probably love you, but it’s so hard to see them over the people that think you’re annoying, weird, or just plain hard to deal with.

The more that you focus on the good, the better your life becomes. It’s high time that you start seeing how good of a person you can really be. You don’t want to slide into a place where you think the worst of yourself. Deep down, there’s good inside of you. You just need to unleash it and experience it for yourself.

Hang out with people that get along with you. Don’t try to seek approval from people that are bullying you. They’re never, ever going to give it to you. I know it might sound odd, but trust us — we’ve been in high school before. It’s not easy for anyone, and everyone gets picked on at least once. Just because you don’t see everyone getting bullied doesn’t mean that it’s not happening. You just have to find your own path to happiness, and remember that what makes you happy doesn’t make everyone happy.

Of course, if you are being actively bullied, you need to get good documentation — start keeping a log of what’s going on. Involve as many school officials as possible. Keep up the pressure until you get treated better. You don’t have to embrace violence on anyone’s part — you just have to take care of yourself. Good luck and remember: you’re in school to get an education, so cherish the time that you have!