To the editor,
A few quick comments about Dr. Throckmorton’s column on Gay Teens in which he asks "Is the proper response to same-sex feelings experienced by youth to come out as gay or lesbian or is it to wait for more mature times to declare a sexual identity due to pliability of sexual feelings and general adolescent confusion?" My question is whether the same caution is appropriate to feelings about the opposite sex, experienced by youth. Should we counsel such a teenager, "well, you may be heterosexual, but it is best to wait and see?"
There is no evidence that I know of that "adolescent confusion" includes sexual identity confusion. Quite the contrary, all research has shown that sexual identity is set long before adolescence. Of course, encouraging kids who might want to come out as gay to "wait and see" sends the none-too-subtle message that being non-heterosexual is not quite as desirable, and one should put off such a decision as long as possible. This, we know from extensive research does tremendous harm to queer teenagers, as indicated by the fact that closeted gay adolescents are four times likelier to attempt suicide than "out" teenagers.
Dr. Throckmorton’s asks another interesting leading question, "Is the increased emphasis on gay acceptance in schools creating pressure on confused teens to declare early and become militant about gay rights to meet adult expectations" One can fairly say with some certainty that for the past few hundred years (at a minimum) there has been crushing pressure on "confused" teens to avoid any hint of homosexuality so as to meet adult and peer expectations. That pressure did not eliminate homosexuality or bisexuality, but it did destroy many lives.
I was particularly troubled by the misrepresentation of the work of the Point Foundation, which Dr. Throckmorton’s suggests encourages competition to participate in gay causes to further adult political objectives. In fact, the Point Foundation offers scholarships to GLBT kids who have been thrown out of their homes, cut off from their families, ostracized by their peers and would have no other way of attending college. I urge your readers to take a quick look at thePointFoundation.org where they will learn of students like Tanene Allison currently at Harvard University despite growing up in an abusive and homophobic household or Brett Janeck who was told by his parents, teachers and church that being gay made him "intrinsically disordered." He graduated at the top of his class, but the only way he could go to college (since his parents would not support him because he is gay) was through the Points Foundation.
I know it is terribly difficult to run letters that challenge a set of political assumptions, but Dr. Throckmorton does you a great disservice when he misleads and distorts the reality of so many teenagers struggling against great odds to be happy with who they are.
Thank you,
Jesse Liberty
Acton Equality
