Sara

"Coming Out in Middle School" By: Benoit Denizet- Lewis []

"Coming out in Middle School" by Benoit Denizet-Lewis, is an article that portrays the struggles as well as accomplishments of gay teenagers growing up in the twenty-first century. This New York Times piece interviews various high-school students, including a boy named Austin, who share their experiences as openly gay teens. The article also addresses families of homosexual children, the Openarms organization (a support group for gay teens) and the overall experience of highschool for these teenagers. I believe that the article does an excellent job in presenting the hardships, harassment and bullying that gay students experience, as well as the changes that our society has made in becoming more a accepting community. The article also presents the fact that gay teenagers are now 'coming out' earlier than before. Although this newspaper article is relatively long (9 pages which you can click through at the bottom) I believe that it is important to address and discuss this topic.

1. Do you believe that students in high school can already accurately define themselves as gay? 2. Do you believe that our generation is more accepting of homosexuality than previous generations? Is being gay accepted at Iolani? 3. What are your personal beliefs on the terms "fag" and describing a particular event/situation as"gay"? Where do you think these terms originated from? How can schools eliminate sexuality slangs from everyday high school language? 4. What are your suggestions for how schools can promote acceptance while decreasing the amount of harrassment and bullying?