Kids being gay

Contributor: bog bog
Quote:
Originally posted by ToyGurl
So I went to see The Sitter with my husband tonight, and in the movie the young boy (about 12 or 13) realizes he's gay. Do you think children can really tell if they are gay or not? I'm not saying there's something wrong with it - I ... more
I came out as "bi" at age 12. I identify basically the same way now almost twenty years later. (Except now I identify as queer. I date men and women and other genders, too.)
02/19/2013
Contributor: Live-love-laugh Live-love-laugh
I think children can identify as LGBT. I knew I liked girls since I was little. Age doesn't matter, sometimes you just know.
02/19/2013
Contributor: Rhinobaby Rhinobaby
Quote:
Originally posted by ToyGurl
So I went to see The Sitter with my husband tonight, and in the movie the young boy (about 12 or 13) realizes he's gay. Do you think children can really tell if they are gay or not? I'm not saying there's something wrong with it - I ... more
Humans are so unique, and many factors determine when a person might start to self-identify as queer. Some people know they are gay before they even hit puberty. Others make this self-discovery well into middle or even old age. Variation like this is completely normal.
02/19/2013
Contributor: MrWill MrWill
Can kids be straight at age 12? Hell yes. Why would being gay be any different??
02/19/2013
Contributor: damnbul12 damnbul12
Quote:
Originally posted by ToyGurl
So I went to see The Sitter with my husband tonight, and in the movie the young boy (about 12 or 13) realizes he's gay. Do you think children can really tell if they are gay or not? I'm not saying there's something wrong with it - I ... more
I think children can be gay/bi/etc.
02/19/2013
Contributor: big b big b
dont know
02/19/2013
Contributor: Zandrock Zandrock
I think they can. I think they might also be wrong. But I do think some will actually know.
02/19/2013
Contributor: RedKyuubi RedKyuubi
I think they can
02/19/2013
Contributor: Aishiteru Aishiteru
Children can be gay. Nobody questions that heterosexual children can be attracted to each other at a young age.
02/19/2013
Contributor: LittleHouse LittleHouse
Quote:
Originally posted by ToyGurl
So I went to see The Sitter with my husband tonight, and in the movie the young boy (about 12 or 13) realizes he's gay. Do you think children can really tell if they are gay or not? I'm not saying there's something wrong with it - I ... more
Both my husband and I were attracted to both sexes at about 12 / 13. It is just something you know
02/25/2013
Contributor: LoganAshlee. LoganAshlee.
I think it's easier to know if you're gay than bi.
02/25/2013
Contributor: Mrs.Tee Mrs.Tee
Quote:
Originally posted by ToyGurl
So I went to see The Sitter with my husband tonight, and in the movie the young boy (about 12 or 13) realizes he's gay. Do you think children can really tell if they are gay or not? I'm not saying there's something wrong with it - I ... more
I think that many childre n are born this way and its something that they cant help, i think that it is genetics
02/25/2013
Contributor: doowop doowop
I didn't know I was gay at a young age, but I find it funny now that I only like androgynous or feminine boys. I do think it's totally possible for kids to be gay or bi.
02/28/2013
Contributor: katat katat
It is absolutely possible that they know. Some might not. Sexuality is fluid and changes for individuals over time. Some people know from the get go, some people realize further on down the road. I honestly found this whole question and several of the remarks offensive. Why is it always questioned if the non-hetero kids have the ability to understand and claim their sexuality (and even their gender identity)? Why are kids who come out as bi/pan/etc seen as 'posers' or just joining for this 'fad' that you all think exists unless, in your mind, they validate that label by having physical intimate action every type of person they say they are attracted to.

How about we question the straight kids if they are just going through a phase? Why don't they have to come out? How do they know if they are straight? Maybe they just haven't had the right gay experience yet. Why isn't it "experimenting" when they engage in hetero relationships at a young age?

Fuck hetero-normativity
03/25/2013
Contributor: Leather & Lace Leather & Lace
I don't think they'd know as children
03/25/2013
Contributor: nope nope
I definitely think that some people know who they are very early. My partner knew that they were "gay" (not exactly the term they would settle on now)from childhood.
I knew at 15. Sometimes 15 felt awful late, though I know it isn't.
03/27/2013
Contributor: spiced spiced
Is there even any doubt that kids can know, much earlier than puberty?

It can be confusing for some of us, though. At puberty, almost all of my fantasies and desires were about girls, so I figured I was straight and that my few fantasies/desires about boys (well, just one boy actually) were flukes or something.

Then, after my first sexual experience, giving a blowjob to my best friend (the one boy I fantasized about) at 16 (and LOVING it), I figured I must be gay. But less than 3 months after that, I hooked up with a girl for the first time and...

It took me several more years to accept that I could like sex with a guy and sex with women and just be...who I am, and to be cool with that.
03/27/2013
Contributor: Virgingasms Virgingasms
I think kids can know pretty early. I remember having crushes on girls when I was in preschool.
03/28/2013
Contributor: JDear JDear
I had crushes on girls at an early age. I didn't realize it was was it was because I didn't know it was possible. I'd only seen hetero relationships. My parents hadn't taught me being gay was wrong, I just didn't know it existed until I was a bit older.
04/15/2013
Contributor: J Peach J Peach
I've known since about grade three that I liked girls, but I never thought twice about it. It wasn't until I was a bit older that I was made aware that girls liking girls was "different."
04/15/2013
Contributor: mailroomorder mailroomorder
Sexual attraction is different than childhood crushes. While young kids may not be sexually aware and haven't gone through puberty, that doesn't mean that they can't find someone pretty or attractive. We grow up watching adults. We see them kiss and hold hands. We can want that with someone even at a young age. I have seen 6 year olds want to hold hands with boys or girls. And especially at 11. I was going to school dances and gossiping over boy bands. I knew by then that I was definitely heterosexual. I knew when I was 6 and had crushes on my older siblings friends. It wasn't sexual, it was just me blushing and wanting to hang out with them and give them high fives.
04/21/2013
Contributor: alextge alextge
Quote:
Originally posted by ToyGurl
So I went to see The Sitter with my husband tonight, and in the movie the young boy (about 12 or 13) realizes he's gay. Do you think children can really tell if they are gay or not? I'm not saying there's something wrong with it - I ... more
People could tell I was gay by the time I was 7 hahah
05/16/2013
Contributor: lovesavestheday lovesavestheday
Yes, children can definitely know. They may not know the term for it early on but they will know.
05/21/2013
Contributor: JinxPinx JinxPinx
I remember that movie. I thought it was cute..
I definately believe some kids can just know at quite a young age. Especially around middle school when kids these days are dating and having sex already, you can tell who you're attracted to.
06/08/2013
Contributor: twelve13 twelve13
I knew I liked women around around age 12. I'm 22 and still do. So, yes.
06/08/2013
Contributor: FrustratedFemme FrustratedFemme
I knew I liked other girls starting when I was 11, and frankly, there were a ton of indications before that. It was around that age that I figured out what those feelings meant. I told myself it was just a phase, and later, I told myself that I was just bisexual. When I was sixteen, I finally accepted that I was gay. Two years later at age 18, I'm fully out of the closet and pretty happy with my life. So, I came out very young.
06/15/2013
Contributor: Hipposterous Hipposterous
I was attracted to both sexes at at 7.
06/18/2013
Contributor: TransMarc TransMarc
I started experiencing sexual attraction at a very young age (around 6) and only at 15 I became attracted to men as well (had my god damned periods at 11 3/4 )
For some people it can be unrelated to puberty, and you should believe what the person tells you because they're the one who live with themselves, in their body, experiencing their live.
Now, if they're 12, then they'll probably be experiencing puberty soon, and I know a woman who started being attracted to women at 10 and had her periods at 12, but in fact your puberty begins before your periods and before you ejaculate for the first time, preparing your body to it, so I can't really say when she started her puberty from that and say she experienced attraction before her puberty. I still guess a number or people experience attraction younger, maybe not as young as me.
Though to be honest, around 13 I was attracted to one man on TV for a short time. He contracted his pecs and it did that to me. But I dismissed it as it never happened before. Also I masturbate less than as a child, but I'm attracted to more people now even without the addition of men to my attractionary.
07/04/2013
Contributor: curious kitten curious kitten
I think that kids need to be able to talk to their parents openly about those feelings, and to be taught to keep an open mind about those decisions until they are mature enough to understand themselves. When I was young, I would look at playboy and penthouse because I was curious; but, by the time I was in my 20's I knew that I was sexually attracted by men. I even gave it a one time try and even though I had an orgasm, it wasn't exactly satisfying.
07/04/2013