Gay identity begins to emerge when bullying is the worst

[marmar]

AP, via the Detroit Free Press:




By the time she was in eighth grade, Rory Mann was so aware of the differences between her and other students that she couldn't bear to enter the cafeteria. Instead, she ate lunch alone on the cold, hard bathroom floor, propped against a wall.

Sometimes Rory, who had known she was gay for about a year but dared not tell anyone, would cut her arms with a razor blade. Her long sleeves hid the evidence from classmates and family.

"Everyone's trying to figure out who they are in middle school," says Mann, now 18 and a high school senior in Newport, R.I. "They turn into vicious people. They are really insecure, and they exploit someone else's differences so people won't see who THEY are."

.....(snip).....

Evidence indicates it's at this age -- 11 to 13 or 14 -- when many youngsters realize they are gay and consider coming out. It's a difficult time for such identity struggles, because it's an age when being different feels the most painful. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/article/20101103/FEATURES01/11030305/1322/Gay-identity-emerges-when-bullying-is-worst#ixzz14Did30uf

[RKP5637]

1. Recommend!!! n/t

[HillWilliam]

2. K&R

Unless you've been there at the receiving end of the viciousness, you have no idea what it's like, having nowhere to turn, no safe haven at all. Being a teen is difficult enough. Being a gay teen is nearly impossible. It's a wonder we make it out intact.

[cate94]

3. K & R