The Challenges of Lesbian and Gay Youth Essay - 2608 Words

The Challenges of Lesbian and Gay Youth This research paper is missing the works cited â€Å"The unprecedented growth of the gay community in recent history has transformed our culture and consciousness, creating radically new possibilities for people to ‘come out’ and live more openly as homosexuals†(Herdt 2). Before the 1969 Stonewall riot in New York, homosexuality was a taboo subject. Research concerning homosexuality emphasized the etiology, treatment, and psychological adjustment of homosexuals. Times have changed since 1969. Homosexuals have gained great attention in arts, entertainment, media, and politics. Yesterday’s research on homosexuality has expanded to include trying to understand the different experiences and†¦show more content†¦During the stages of homosexual identity development, many gay adolescents encounter many preconceptions and assumptions regarding homosexuality. These assumptions are presumption of heterosexuality, presumption of inversion, and recognition of stigma (Herdt 4-5). Using Troiden’s mode l as a guide, the present paper examines the four stages of homosexual identity development as it affects both gay children and parents. Section one concentrates on the first two stages of homosexual identity formation and the ordeals gay adolescents and parents before disclosure. Section two explains the third and fourth stages of homosexual identity development. Finally, section three discusses parents’ reactions to the disclosure, and the relationship with their child thereafter. The Pre-Disclosure Period The first stage of homosexual identity development, sensitization, occurs before puberty. In the sensitization stage, gay adolescents experience feelings of being â€Å"different† and marginal from same gender peers (Troiden 50). Comments such as the following illustrate what boys feel during this stage: I had a keener interest in the arts; I never learned to fight; I just didn’t feel I was like other boys. I was very fond of pretty things like ribbons and flowers and music; I was indifferent to boy’s games, like cops and robbers. I was more interested in watching insects and reflecting on certain things. (Durby 5)Show MoreRelatedChallenges Throughout Their Transition Of Being Expected1535 Words   |  7 PagesTransgenders face several challenges throughout their transition of being expected. MacNish Gold-Peifer (2014) defined the term transgender as an umbrella term used to describe variations of gender identities derived from your expected birth gender and societies expectations of that gender. 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