OK, So I'm gay

[dude]

This coming out video by a boy going on 13 years old could hardly have been staged. If it sounds rambling, it's the way kids his age talk. I admire his pluck in going on YouTube and doing it and hope he doesn't get too much flack from the ever-present haters! God bless him!

[Lugnutz]

I think the kid is jumping the gun. It's good to know this early. Better than in your late 30's

[Cole Parker]

Scatterbrained. If you're teaching his grade, which is probably the 8th, you can see why most of what you're saying just floats over these kids' heads. They have a difficult time just thinking about one thing for more than ten seconds.

By the same token, the kid is adorable, and will probably become even more so for the next few years. You can only hope things go well for him. He's living in better times, more accepting times, than most of us were at that age.

I wish him all the luck in the world.

C

[JamesSavik]

kid might have a touch of ADD

[dude]

Naw.. a typical California sixth-grader... LOL

[DesDownunder]

Firstly, I have to point out that the dog on the bed doesn't seem to care if the boy is gay or not.

Secondly, the pre-puberty times in which I grew up had constrained my ability to recognise all the signs of my sexuality from my self-awareness.

I don't find this boy's attention span is scatter-brained or ADD. Compared to my own memories of that age, he seems remarkably coherent with a strong sense of inquiry and willingness to question his self-image.

Thirdly, given my own utter inability to recognise my same sex attraction until I started puberty, I remember thinking that I would just do it with boys until I met a girl.

I guess that was what set me off to thinking that my thoughts on the matter were somewhat obscure, if not bizarre. So I see something similar in this lad, but at an earlier age than me, and happily less fettered with the social indoctrinations and familial concealments which I had to battle. In addition, he seems to be totally devoid of stereotypical mannerisms that some people expect gay males to have from their birth-date. It seems to me that he has the chance to discover what is right for him.

Fourth, If I remember correctly, my own travels through my teens were through a minefield of misguided expectations, of unbelievable dangers and the discoveries of questions that no one else seemed to ask. This led me to investigate philosophy, psychology and ultimately an intuitive questioning of life itself. I know now that Socrates meant for youth to awaken to the questions and seek answers without being coerced into irrational opinions. I have thought that our treatment by societies, past and present, gave rise to us asking such questions about our sexuality, which led to further question of everything. Moreover, I wondered what would happen to the rebellion of gay youth if we did indeed find our sexuality, accepted.

Of course the answer to that, I think, is that questioning sexuality does indeed open the doors to our self-awareness, and awareness in general. If we all discover it as a natural exercise of our consciousness then no matter what your sexuality, we humans may well find it leads to a more fulfilling and rewarding life experience; not just for ourselves, but for the whole species.

So finally, (hooray) I have great hope for this lad and expect his enquiring mind will expand with much fulfilment.

[Merkin]

I am struck by the ease with which this boy talks to his unseen (and unknown) audience. At his age I believe I gave definition to the term 'introvert' and I would have been terrified to disclose anything about myself in person or though any media, to say nothing of the impassible social structures that prevented any sort of honest disclosures among people. I would like to believe it is this willingness and ability to communicate openly that will enable this boy's generation to achieve greater understanding of one another even among our earth's many cultures and nations.

[FreeThinker]

I have been struck by the ease with which people today are willing to reveal their most intimate secrets online. Not only do people not care about a sense of privacy, but they seem to want to confess openly anything that happens in their life.

That said, before people start thinking I've completely gone around the bend and become a <gasp> conservative, I applaud the kid. I think because of this lack of concern about privacy, which can be quite detrimental in some respects, this boy is quite fortunate to live in an environment where he is able to talk about his feelings in this regard with such freedom. Because society is so open on this subject, it is easier for boys to come to these realizations about themselves at a younger age than my generation was or others. In my day--when the Lord turned people into pillars of salt, to quote Rafael from Dance of the Wicked Boys-- if a twelve year-old had thoughts along those lines, he was told he was just going through a phase and would change his mind when he went through puberty. I didn't. (change my mind, that is. I did go through puberty, which was quite traumatic and eye-opening). The kid's fortunate to live in more enlightened times, and I hope that in ten or twenty years, a gay boy won't feel it necessary to come out, that simply being queer will be just one of many facets of a multi-dimensional person that doesn't merit special attention.

[colinian]

This shows how kids are more and more willing to out themselves, and usually find lots of support.

Colin