role models: do they still exsist?
65Gay teens...... do they have any role models?
Speaking from experience, I can tell you, "NO", not saying there aren't any, just not a lot of them to go around. I am a 30 year old white male, living in Tennessee (the Bible-Belt) of America. I love God, let me say that first! Although most people around here have different ideas of the GBLT community. I do know there needs to be a better understanding of what being gay actually means. I know we have, as a society, came a long way in the past decade or so...... but still have a long way to go. I know you hear the same story time and time again, but this one is different and here's why.
Being gay, doesn't mean being a freak, or a sex addict. It doesn't mean your an abomination and it doesn't mean you have to be lonely for the rest of your life. As I grow this particular hub, I will be taking polls and surveys in my area and with their permission will be posting their stories in order to give some gay youths as well as adults a role model. Please feel free to contact me via this page, if you feel you need/want to talk on a more personal level. I hope I can help! Even if I only help one person, I feel that I have at least done something good for the GBLT community. Also I would like to ask if you have a story you would like to share please leave it in a comment, or contact me to have your story or stories added to this page.
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Very interesting hub. I teach high school color guard and dance and I have often wondered if my students and their peers have any role models, especially the ones who identify as being gay/lesbian. I have noticed that they usually pick someone they know and stick to them as being their role model, until that person makes a mistake. Teens tend to hold adults at such high standards and expectations that if one mistake is made, the role model is tarnished for life. As an adult, I have very few role models, but that is only because I have held people up on pedestals for so long and I found myself to be disappointed by them or let down by them in one way or another so I learned to be proud of myself and be my own role model. Of course this has also contributed to my learning to be so independent, but I have to agree with your points made in this hub. Voted up and interesting. =)
Why there should be more role models, This is my story.....
Well here goes.... I grew up in a small town in west Tennessee, everyone knew everyone. I'm sure you all know how that feels regardless of where you live. I had a great childhood, wonderful parents and pretty well liked in school. I guess I can say I knew I was gay around the age of 8 or maybe 9. I also knew that the "norm" wasn't what I seemed to be thinking. I knew you , (a boy) was supposed to like a girl..... not the case with me. I Remember a guy in 5th grade had brought a playboy to school in his backpack and a lot of us guys had surrounded him during recess trying to see what it was all about. I am guessing I was the only one looking at the guy in the pic and not the girl. I know I skipped forward a bit, but anyway. I like a few girls throughout the years (early years) anyway. Looking back now, I realize they were all tomboys and guess I was going for the closest thing i could get to what I secretly wanted.
I come from a large family my dad has one sister and 4 brothers, of which produced, 10 offspring, my self included in the count. not only were we a large family, we all lived within a 2 mile radius, so you can imagine how that was growing up. A lot of the times it was great, always someone to play with. If one of us "this cousins" did something, the parent would know, sometimes it seemed, before it even happened.
There was this one girl, a black girl (remember I am from Tennessee) and I like her a lot not sure why, I mean she was pretty and all that so it wasn't hard to like her, she was funny and just a great person. At this time my cousins and I rode the bus together, so anyway she and I were talking and then it happened..... We kissed! nothing big just a peck, although it was on the lips. I didn't really think anything of it, of course I don't think there was anything to that, it's what I told my cousin afterwards that ended up getting me in trouble.... I had said that I showed her my penis,"I DIDN'T, but said it anyway. That night mom came in my room and said she had something to talk about. Remember now I am around 9. She said she had heard something and wanted to know if it were true? She asked and I said yeah. With that it broke loose. She starting talking about how whites should only kiss whites and a whole lot of other stuff. I was in more trouble for what I said I did I think rather than what I actually did. Now withthat said, this is one thing my mother "preached" all while I was growing up; it doesn't matter what color you are as long as you are a good person. With that being told to me and then now to hear this, I was so confused it wasn't funny! I mean I didn't know which way was up....Don't get me wrong I knew it when I said it to my cousin that it wasn't right, I just was trying to big "the big man". Never realizing it would cause my mother to go insane....lol After the "talk" was over she wanted to me to say my prayers and then ask for forgiveness.
Skipping ahead a few years:
I went to church a lot as I was younger, after that incident. My parents didn't go ever! My cousin (distant), 4th cousin. Anyway his parents where and are to this day avid church goers. I guess I can cut right to it. We were in bible study and reading verses from the bible and long story short ...... ( I will edit this more another day, I'm sorry if you have gotten into my story, but for me it is late. I work from 3am-11am) so if you are interested in my story please come back for the rest of it, later. Thanks
xethonxq Level 3 Commenter 5 months ago
I think there are gay/lesbian role models. Some on in the media, music industry, TV/film industry. Some are in regular communities. The problem is when you're young and gay many times you are scared to reach out...for many reasons (fear of being found out, fear of rejection, fear of abuse/maltreatment). We, as the adult LGBT community members, need to find a way to reach out to the LGBT youth and make them feel more welcome and comfortable. We're out there...sometimes we're just not easy to access (unfortunately).