LGBT & Questioning
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Am I gay or lesbian or bi if...?

If I like people of my own gender? 
If I like one person one week and someone of another gender the next week?  
If part of me liked it when someone molested me?  
If I liked it when my friend and I fooled around?  
If I feel turned on by pictures of people of my own sex?  
If I have a crush on this teacher who's the same sex as I am?  
If I don't like anybody?

Maybe, maybe, probably not, maybe, maybe, maybe, probably not.

If you discover, over time, that you are mostly attracted to people of your own gender, you may end up concluding that you're gay or lesbian. If, over time, you discover that you are capable of feeling sexual and romantic feelings toward people of different genders, you may start to consider yourself bisexual. If you eventually conclude that, although you sometimes feel attracted to people of your own gender, you're most often or most intensely into people of a different gender, you may start to call yourself heterosexual or straight. If you find gender irrelevant in what attracts you to people and you object to a binary system of genders, you may start thinking of yourself as pansexual or queer or you may refuse labels altogether. 

But don't label yourself based on one or two crushes. And don't assume that having sex will make it clear; all it does for many people is to complicate things. And don't let anybody else impose labels on you; they can't know how you feel inside. And don't base your description of yourself on stereotypes ... gay, lesbian and bisexual people are as diverse as anybody else. Your sexual orientation is about who you find attractive and who you most want to be romantically or sexually involved with, not how masculine or feminine (butch or femme) you are, no matter what anyone says. Give yourself time . You'll know when you know and not one minute sooner.

These sites may help you answer your questions and give you more information:

Advocates for Youth’s pamphlets - Written by and for young people, these practical pamphlets give tips on various topics relevant to your life. Available in print or online. Suite 200, 1025 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005; Phone: 202-347-5700.

I Think I Might Be Bisexual, Now What Do I Do? [html] [pdf]
I Think I Might Be Gay, Now What Do I Do? [html] [pdf]
I Think I Might Be Lesbian, Now What Do I Do? [html] [pdf]
I Think I Might Be Transgender, Now What Do I Do? [html] [pdf]
Resources for Young People Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth [html] [pdf]
More - a publications list by topic

Being Gay: What's It Like? - a page on SexEtc, a website by teens for teens sponsored by the Network for Family Life Education at Rutgers University.

Be Yourself: Questions and Answers for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Youth - from PFLAG, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. 1726 M Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036. Phone: 202-467-8180, Email: info@pflag.org; Web site:  (pdf format)

Bi Any Other name: Bisexual People Speak Out, L. Hutchins and L. Kaahumanu, eds., 1991. ISBN: 1555831745 Stories written by bisexual people from various cultures and with diverse life experiences. Los Angeles: Alyson Publications. $12.95 (pbk)

Bisexual Resource Center - Organization educates about, and provides support for, bisexual people. Their web site contains entire pamphlets and articles on-line. P.O. Box 1026, Boston, MA 02117-1026; Phone: 617-424-9595.

Bisexual Resource Guide, 4th edition: R. Ochs, Ed., 2001. ISBN: 0965388131. Book defines bisexuality, and has chapters on starting a bisexual support group; safer sex; biphobia; bisexuality in literature, film and the web; and bisexual and bi-inclusive organizations in over 50 countries and every state in the U.S. MA: Bisexual Resource Center. $13.95 (pbk)  

Coming Out - from the Human Rights Campaign, including articles like these and more:

How Can I Get My Parents To Understand That I Can’t Change My Sexual Orientation?
Living Openly on Your Terms

The Cool Page For Queer Teens! - tips on everything from, "what to do if you've been outed unexpectedly" to "when you're having trouble at school" and a special section specifically for Transgender youth: 

Hero and Role Model Cards (pdf format) - from the Safe Schools Coalition.

Lesbian/Gay/ Bisexual/Transgender and InFocus: Archives: LGBTQ - on TeenWire from Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

No Longer Alone: A Resource Manual for Rural Sexual Minority Youth and the Adults who Serve Them: and as a formattted manual (pdf format) - While all gay and lesbian students face tremendous challenges, rural students go noticeably underserved. The purpose of this resource manual is to assist concerned adults in creating safe environments for rural gay youth. Written by Christopher J. Stapel. an openly gay high school math teacher and advisor at the Boston Community Leadership Academy, with generous financial support of the Harvard Gay and Lesbian Caucus’s Open Gate Foundation and with expertise, resources, access to professional networks, and moral support from other organizations.

OutProud - The National Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth - provides advocacy, resources and support to LGB youth and agencies that work with them.

Read This Before Coming Out to Your Parents - online pamphlet from OutProud.

Queer Resources Directory - a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender yellow pages of the Web.

We Are the Youth - a photographic journalism project that chronicles the individual stories of LGBT youth in the United States through photographic portraits and written interviews highlighting the participants’ voices, We Are the Youth captures the incredible diversity and uniqueness among the LGBT youth population, limited participation to people 21 years of age and under. 

Also see SSC's YOUTH page: Health Education
 

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