Identifying as LGBTQIA+* often means not seeing yourself and your identity reflected in the media you watch, read and love. If you’re the “A” part—asexual (“ace”), aromantic (“aro”) or both (“aroace”)—this can feel especially…
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Gender stereotypes are everywhere. Sometimes, they show up in obvious ways, like when parents-to-be have gender reveal parties and then use that to determine how they’ll decorate the nursery and what baby clothes they’ll buy. Sometimes, they show…
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Content Warning: In this story, traumatic experiences will be shared that may elicit strong emotions. As you read, be aware and conscious of your feelings, and take a break at any time. My former partner and I met when I […]
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From my very first day of high school, I was introduced to a wide range of authors, books and ideas. While studying literature, my English class also became a place for personal growth and self-reflection. I found new ways to […]
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I first discovered Ella Fields in 2019 after her short film Bubble Gum landed on my YouTube recommended page. Over the course of nine minutes, I watched two young girls fall in love as they frolic on a beach, scream […]
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My high school may have posters in the classrooms claiming that discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation will not be tolerated, but the reality can feel much different. Time and time again, the administration has not assisted those…
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I was so happy to celebrate my first Pride Month a few months ago in June! When I went to PrideFest in New York City with some friends, it was a lot of fun, and amazing to see so many […]
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Nineteen-year-old Mae Lexi Zurita (pictured in the center above) is determined to make a change in the world. As a member of the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health (MOASH), she has been involved with a number of projects aimed […]
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Young people in the U.S. today were not around a few decades ago to see the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic at its peak. Since then, there have been advances in the prevention and treatment of HIV.…
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I grew up in a pretty conservative, rural, stuck-in-its-ways small town. It’s a town of crops and cattle where church parking lots are full on Sundays and the gravel dirt roads are paved by trucks with flat decks. Its residents […]
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Scrolling through social media, I often see people who identify along many parts of the gender spectrum. It makes me so happy to see teens showing the truest version of themselves. Teens often have a strong sense of their gender […]
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For many people who identify as LGBTQ, coming out can be a way to show your true colors. Coming out is the process of sharing your sexual orientation and/or gender identity with others. Homophobia and transphobia—the irrational fear or hatred […]
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In my first year of high school, I got my ears pierced for the first time. When the lady at the mall finished, I checked myself out in the mirror. I loved the way I looked and couldn’t wait to […]
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The idea of coming home from school and talking to my mom about how a girl I was flirting with asked me out is a completely alien concept to me. To this day I’ve never addressed anything about my sexual […]
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Nadya Okamoto is a 20-year-old junior at Harvard University. She is the Founder and Executive Director of PERIOD (period.org), one of the fastest growing, youth-run women’s health nonprofit organizations in the United States. Since she co-founded…
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I was 13 when I hinted to my dad that I was gay. We were in his car, and he was driving me home from my usual weekend visit with him. (My parents are divorced.) I asked him, “What would […]
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In many sex education classes, LGBTQ topics aren’t included or, if they are mentioned at all, it’s brief. For instance, in my sex ed class, we spent one lesson learning what the L, G, B and T stand for and […]
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Sex, Etc. has provided teens honest and inclusive sexual health information since it started in 1994. Our readers represent all sorts of backgrounds and identities, and for some, it might be the only place they can see themselves reflected and […]
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On June 12, 2016, a man entered a bustling gay nightclub in Orlando with a semi-automatic rifle, killed 49 clubgoers and injured 53 others. It was the deadliest anti-LGBTQ hate crime America had ever seen, and it had taken place […]
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Ose Arheghan, 18, of Shaker Heights, OH, came out as queer in the eighth grade. Ose (who uses the gender-neutral pronouns “they” and “them”) soon found themselves facing challenges caused by a lack of LGBTQ-friendly school resources and laws,…
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Coming out. This process can be liberating but also anxiety-producing and in some cases downright terrifying, whether you identify as bisexual, gay, transgender, asexual, gender-fluid or any other LGBTQ identity. Just after my eighteenth birthday,…
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I felt like I didn’t belong. It was like I was listening in on a conversation about everyone else but me. My teacher clicked on a PowerPoint, the guys in the back of the class giggled on cue, and I […]
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Labels are all around us. For example, I procrastinated writing this article by scrolling through Tag Yourself memes on Tumblr, while Googling and taking personality quizzes. (I might have felt more joy than I should have when my results for […]
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Today, I sat with a group of friends, most of them LGBT. We ended up discussing relationships, how to get a girl’s attention and how to know if she’s queer. I don’t know how it is outside of Africa, so […]
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Imagine you’ve decided to come out to your parents. You’re nervous, weighing the decision carefully. You wonder, Is this really the right time? Should I come out now? How should I do it? For many teens, whether or not to […]
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By my sophomore year of high school, I had started to accept myself and my sexual orientation. I am asexual, meaning I don’t experience sexual attraction to anyone. So I was a bit shocked when I walked into an “LGBT+ […]
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Visiting your doctor or other health care provider is a large part of taking care of yourself. Your relationship with your doctor can be incredibly valuable in making sure you are safe, healthy and informed about your body. However, sexual […]
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Recently, my mum asked her girlfriend to marry her whilst they were on holiday in Berlin. I texted all my friends to tell them the good news, and they all got super excited, offering their congratulations to both them as […]
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Elisabeth Dee, a 22-year-old student, activist, writer and feminist, has a long history of being a sexual health advocate. Raised in Utah with what she calls an “abysmal public-school sex education,” Elisabeth had no idea how her body worked, and…
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Caitlyn Caruso has been standing up for the rights of LGBTQ students since middle school, when she organized a Day of Silence event at her school and was met with homophobia from some students and push-back from school administration. Today, […]
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Coming out to parents is probably one of the scariest things a person may ever do. I say that from experience; I came out to my mom three years ago. It didn’t go too well. I guess it was kind […]
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Living openly as a transgender person is NOT easy. For me, it always feels like someone is judging me and looking at me. I get questions like, “Are you a boy or a girl?” and “What are you?” because I […]
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For a while, I was the type of guy who stubbornly refused to come out of the closet, even though, by early sophomore year in high school, exactly zero people thought I was heterosexual. It’s hilarious, in retrospect. I’d turn […]
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Half a century ago, it would have been unheard of for an LGBT person to be out and proud about their sexual orientation or gender identity. Now, the majority of Americans support same-sex marriage, we have an entire month dedicated […]
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I walked into school one Monday. I was in a good mood. My homework was all done, I had eaten my favorite breakfast, and I had plans to hang out with friends after school. But when I got to math […]
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My sexual health education lasted one semester of middle school. I listened to my seventh-grade science teacher explain the importance of condoms, which I will call “external condoms” to distinguish them from “female” or receptive condoms.…
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Imagine awkwardly reaching into your bag in the middle of class, digging around for an item without having anyone notice you. You finally find it, a tampon hidden at the bottom of your bag. You slide it up your sleeve […]
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I’ve always loved reading. In elementary school, I was often scolded for being the girl with a book hidden in her lap during a lesson. In fact, due to my constant reading, I quickly jumped from the easy reader section […]
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Almost 11 months ago, I realized something about myself—something that was quite unexpected. I realized I was not a girl. But I didn’t see myself as transgender either. Reading up on the existence of genders outside the binary—being either…
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Whenever there are enormous posters of shirtless guys and I am surrounded by my cooing friends, I feel uncomfortable. “Look Emma! Look at his abs!” “He’s so hot. Don’t you think?” On this particular day, my posse and I were […]
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Like most teens, YingYing Shang has favorite hobbies: she runs spring and winter track, plays percussion in her school’s marching band and loves reading poetry. What sets her apart from most high school seniors is her passion for feminism. YingYing…
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Like many little girls, I wanted to be a ballerina—the epitome of grace, beauty and femininity. As a child, I’d flip through sparkly picture books, play with Barbie dolls and stare at TV screens as dancers pirouetted across stage; all […]
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This past spring, I went to Storrs, Connecticut to attend the True Colors Conference—a conference all about supporting teens of different sexual orientations and gender identities. All of the bathrooms at the conference were transformed into “all…
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When you think about sexuality, do you usually think boy plus girl? Nowadays there are more people who also think boy plus boy or girl plus girl when it comes to sexuality. Today there is increased visibility of gay and […]
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Figures on bathroom signs. Aisles at the toy store. Gender is represented everywhere. Colors, clothing and careers are even assigned genders: blue and pink, pants and skirts, doctors and nurses. Gender is often thought of as an either/or—man or…
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Bryce Celotto, 21, is a transgender guy living in Washington, D.C. Being transgender means a person’s gender—how someone feels as masculine and/or feminine—doesn’t match the person’s biological sex. This may include someone who was born female…
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If you were asked to think of what a traditional guy is supposed to be like, what would come to mind? Maybe you would think of adjectives, like strong, athletic, tough and unemotional. Yet this traditional role or “gender box” […]
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It was freshman year in gym class when I had my first encounter with homophobia. I remember every last detail, right down to the rainbow colored smiley-face earrings I was wearing. The air in the gym was hot and thick […]
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