i am 16 and think i might be gay what should i do?

Question

should i tell someone or not

Answer 1

Do not tell anybody. Please do not tell anybody. Even if you are gay you don't want to bring hatred upon yourself or open yourself to getting beaten up everyday in school. You might not be gay. As our body changes from child to young adult we have all kind of different feelings. We have a large increase in hormones that can cause confusion in us too.

Your best bet is to wait until you get through college to say anything. Even if you tell your parents they might not be understanding. You don't want them throwing you out of the house as soon as you complete High School. Or cutting off any funding for college. This is the time you are supposed to be concentrating on school anyway. So give yourself time to date women and grow into adulthood.

Answer 2

If you think you might be or even if you are still not 100 percent sure, and you have access to a private and discreet place to use a phone, you might consider calling one or more of the national safe-space gay youth hotlines. They are usually staffed either by trained professionals or trained peer counselors, and I believe can offer either confidential counseling on the phone or referrals to other sources.

Also, if you have a safe place to use the internet, some of the groups below have websites you can visit.

I can totally relate to how you might be feeling and maybe it's a confusing time. I'm sure you want to be true to yourself if you ARE gay, but it is true that you do need to be careful about the decisions you make especially if it pertains to coming out openly, including coming out to your parents if you don't know how they'd react. You don't want to jeopardize things like a roof over your head, financial support, college, etc. Like a couple of people said here, being an out teen can also be a tense situation at school, depending.

So check out these resources first for professional help.

National Gay and Lesbian Youth Hotline: [phone]-TEEN (1-800-347-8336)

GLBT National Help Center's Youth Talkline:
1-800-246-PRIDE (1-800-246-7743)
http://www.glnh.org

OutProud
http://www.outproud.org
Doesn't have a hotline number to call, but this official website of The National Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Youth looks liks it has a number of good resources, including a link to some online brochures with lots of information.

Advocates For Youth
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/youth/health/pamphlets/gay.htm
This is a Washington, DC based organization that does what it sounds like: advocates for youth and the issues that they face, including GLBT and questioning youth. The link above is for the online version pamphlet "I Think I Might Be Gay, Now What Do I Do?"

Also, if you live in a relatively large metropolitan city but aren't sure whether there are any local safe-space resources or gay youth centers there, you might try calling the office of your local gay community newspaper (if there IS one in your city). Perhaps they might have a listing/calendar of local support groups or centers you could look into. Be sure, though, that you ask specifically for referrals ONLY to "safe-space" or "confidential" gay youth centers or resources that are staffed by professionals and peer counselors!

Good luck.

Answer 3

The first person I told was my best friend and honestly I felt so much better afterwards. If you do decide to tell someone, make sure it's someone that'll accept you no matter what and won't treat you any differently. But don't tell someone just because you feel like you have to. Once you're ready it'll be a lot easier to tell someone.

Answer 4

There is no need to tell anyone unless it is absolutely necessary. Explore your sexuality, don't decide what you might or might not be. Many men who identify as straight have sex with other men. Many men who identify as gay have sex with women. Don't worry about labels, find out who you are and if you need a label at some stage, you will be able to give yourself one. In the meantime, don't worry about it, go with the flow.

Answer 5

if you are gay, and positive, then tell people. life is short, and if you cant tell people something that big about you, then they dont really get to know the real you. i mean, some of your best friends might be homophobes, so might as well break the friendship, if they are.

Answer 6

i am the same way except for younger. if you think your best friends will accept you than go ahead. what i did is i sent an email to my friends saying my friend Katherine is gay and she likes me blah blah blah. and so i called one of them up and said hey what do you think about my friend being gay and she said thats cool and then i told her that that girl was actually me. now the biggest mistake i ever did about telling anyone is my other so called bestfriend. i have had the BIGGEST crush on her for 4 years and know she still talks to me but she wont hug me or say she loves me anymore. email me if you want and i wll tell you more.

Answer 7

I think the first one is right. Don't tell anyone until your sure, cause if you aren't, and you tell people you are, then some problems might come up later on.

Answer 8

there is a phone number you can call to get counseling so no one will know only that counselor. Because if you tell a friend or family member they may not act in an acceptable manner.

Answer 9

Tomorrow go to school in a rainbow cape singing Kelly Clarkson as loud as you can.
If thats not your style you should only tell people you trust at first.

Answer 10

no need to jump the gun... you have plenty of time... you need to get secure with yourself before you can expect others to feel secure with your sexuality... but now that you realize it... I would simply be honest and natural about your likes and dislikes... meaning... don't "abridge" or "edit" yourself... if some jug-head says "yo look at da juggs on DAT broad"... you can say "..yeah... doesn't really do anything for me..."... or if someone says "why don't you have a girlfriend yet"... you can say "cuz I like guys..."... no big "coming out ceremony" just honesty... it'll take care of itself....