This article is about how kids nowadays are starting to "come out" earlier than they used to. It seems that middle- school age kids know who they are earlier and feel comfortable expressing that to their peers at an earlier age. The article talked a 13 year old boy named Austin who just came out to his friends a month ago and was going to a dance for gay kids at his church. He has a 14- year- old boyfriend who's afraid to come out to his dad and Austin's mom just found out a week before the dance. His mom was fine with it but his sister was upset and kept saying it was just a phase. When I read this article I was surprised by the maturity that these kids portrayed. When we think of middle school, we usually picture immature children who don't have a clue what the real world is like. One kid from the article said that he knew he was gay at eleven and his sister asked him how he knew that if he hadn't ever kissed anyone or had a relationship. The boy said that he didn't need to have sex with a girl to know that he wasn't interested. I think that was such a mature way to think about it. When I think about this issue and how gays had to be silent for so many years, I would think that people would be hesitant to come out and want to experiment before really knowing for sure. These kids were confident in who they were and didn't feel the need to prove it to anyone. I was definately impressed by the way they handle their situation. For most kids who come out in middle school, it means having to endure harrassement and torture. It takes so much courage to open up when you have everything at stake and I really admire these kids because they were able to do that. In some ways they are lucky because they know who they are at such an early age. Most people, even in high school, don't know themselves very well.
Denizet-Lewis, Benoit, Charles Murray, and Susie Buffett. "Coming Out in Middle School." New York Times Magazine 27 Sep 2009: 36. SIRS Researcher. Web. 03 February 2010.
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I liked what you wrote about the maturity of Gays. I also wonder how Gay people just know that they are gay without experimenting at first. I am also impressed how middle school children are confident enough to tell people that they are gay even when they know that they might get harrassed and tortured. I enjoyed reading what you wrote about this article because you showed the maturity and confidence some children have at an early age. I feel like its better to "come out" in middle school because then you are not dening your identy to people and you get to know yourself better when you are sure of something.
ReplyDeleteI entirely agreed with you when you said that these kids are brave. Being able to announce one's sexuality at such a young age takes great courage. I am amazed by this without even reading the full article. What I like about that is that the world has placed such a negative name on gays that I would think at a young age children would be aware of this and keep their identites to themselves. In a perfect world it should not matter what gender someone loves, but it seems to be one of the most important things nowadays. I am impressed that these middle-school students were so sure of themselves. It sort of gives a sigh of relief that although there are people out there who give gay individuals a hard time, kids are not afraid to share their sexuality with the world.
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