Middle school gay/bi kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious, at my child’s large (public) middle school there seem to be so many kids that are identifying as gay/bi. As in maybe the majority, or close. It seems very commonplace. Is this the case at your child’s middle school? Seeing as adults that identify LGBQ is a much smaller percentage, what is going on with the middle school crowd?

What city is this? Public or private school?

OP said public. And this is how it is everywhere.

No, it's a regional phenomenon.

I don’t live in the DCUM region and I have observed the same where I live.

Same

Back again! Rat a tat tat!

[Anonymous]

The poster who keeps attacking everyone who tries to have a discussion about this on DCUM is not helping. My DD recently shared with us that she is gay and I am trying to learn how best to support her. Like numerous other people have said, most of the girls in her group of friends also have openly discussed being gay, bi, and/or non-binary. I just want to educate myself, and if I also express some concerns because I feel like I am in uncharted waters, that does not make me a homophobe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In 6th/7th grade about half the girls in my son's grade claimed to be gay, bi, or nonbinary. Only a handful still say so - he's now mid-8th grade.

Again, how do you know? How are you tracking all of your son’s classmates and their professed sexual preferences from year to year? Do you call them? Call their mothers? And what time of year do you gather the data? At the beginning of the school year? The end?

Seriously. Tell us how you know this, and why it is that you care so much.

I don't "care so much."

We are in a relatively small school. My son's estimation at the beginning of 7th grade was that about half the girls professed themselves to be gay, bi, or nonbinary. How did he know? They spoke up about it in class. They covered their backpacks with gay pride patches/buttons. They said out loud, "I'm bi." "My pronouns are they/theirs."

Now he says most of that is gone. Most of those same girls have boyfriends. They say, "I'm not gay anymore." or maybe "I'm still bi but now I like boys romantically." "My pronouns are she/hers."

My son doesn't care how people identify or who they're attracted to, with the exception of the one girl he likes and that he hopes likes him back. But for those of us who have kids who have kids who talk to us, the middle school romances are a huge part of the social scene, so yeah, I hear all about who likes who and how it's all playing it.

That is how I know. I know what he tells me. I'm not spying on these girls and seeing who they're kissing (if anyone) but simply reporting back what I hear, since the OP asked!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a spillover effect from toxic masculinity. Rather than deal with male attention, girls are declaring themselves gay or non-binary. Most are normal and straight and that will become clearer later .

I completely agree that this is driving part of this. Girls look around at how men treat women and say no thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My issue with threads like these, which are ubiquitous on this board, is that their purpose is to elicit “don’t worry, it’s a fad” responses. Y’all say you’re not homophobes, yet I haven’t seen a single post celebrating the new openness or even lending it any credibility. And when you use words like “majority” what’s implicit is that you don’t believe that what many of the kids are saying are true.

So, yea, threats like this are inherently homophobic. Sorry to break it to you.

it's really not homophobic. OF COURSE there are kids who know they're gay at 9 or 10 or 11 years old. But there are also a lot of girls saying they're gay and then changing their minds once they've actually gone through puberty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My issue with threads like these, which are ubiquitous on this board, is that their purpose is to elicit “don’t worry, it’s a fad” responses. Y’all say you’re not homophobes, yet I haven’t seen a single post celebrating the new openness or even lending it any credibility. And when you use words like “majority” what’s implicit is that you don’t believe that what many of the kids are saying are true.

So, yea, threats like this are inherently homophobic. Sorry to break it to you.

If the new openness allows LGBTQ kids to feel safe and comfortable on their skin, that’s fantastic. But I can’t have an intellectually honest conversation about this without acknowledging the performative aspect to some of it. From the group texts I’ve seen among my DD’s friends once they all started to hit puberty—sorry, but I just can’t give it 100% credence.

See, you've proven my point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My issue with threads like these, which are ubiquitous on this board, is that their purpose is to elicit “don’t worry, it’s a fad” responses. Y’all say you’re not homophobes, yet I haven’t seen a single post celebrating the new openness or even lending it any credibility. And when you use words like “majority” what’s implicit is that you don’t believe that what many of the kids are saying are true.

So, yea, threats like this are inherently homophobic. Sorry to break it to you.

If the new openness allows LGBTQ kids to feel safe and comfortable on their skin, that’s fantastic. But I can’t have an intellectually honest conversation about this without acknowledging the performative aspect to some of it. From the group texts I’ve seen among my DD’s friends once they all started to hit puberty—sorry, but I just can’t give it 100% credence.

See, you've proven my point.

You don’t have a point. You are incoherently screaming “homophobic” at anyone who posts. It’s beyond unhelpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My issue with threads like these, which are ubiquitous on this board, is that their purpose is to elicit “don’t worry, it’s a fad” responses. Y’all say you’re not homophobes, yet I haven’t seen a single post celebrating the new openness or even lending it any credibility. And when you use words like “majority” what’s implicit is that you don’t believe that what many of the kids are saying are true.

So, yea, threats like this are inherently homophobic. Sorry to break it to you.

If the new openness allows LGBTQ kids to feel safe and comfortable on their skin, that’s fantastic. But I can’t have an intellectually honest conversation about this without acknowledging the performative aspect to some of it. From the group texts I’ve seen among my DD’s friends once they all started to hit puberty—sorry, but I just can’t give it 100% credence.

See, you've proven my point.

How so?

And it’s funny that I’m now seeing an ad for an “Are you gay?” quiz on my screen now, because that’s exactly what was being discussed among my DD and her friends on her group text when she was in 6th grade and I first started noticing this phenomenon. They were all sharing the link, taking an online quiz, and discussing the results. The TikTok algorithms adjusted accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My issue with threads like these, which are ubiquitous on this board, is that their purpose is to elicit “don’t worry, it’s a fad” responses. Y’all say you’re not homophobes, yet I haven’t seen a single post celebrating the new openness or even lending it any credibility. And when you use words like “majority” what’s implicit is that you don’t believe that what many of the kids are saying are true.

So, yea, threats like this are inherently homophobic. Sorry to break it to you.

If the new openness allows LGBTQ kids to feel safe and comfortable on their skin, that’s fantastic. But I can’t have an intellectually honest conversation about this without acknowledging the performative aspect to some of it. From the group texts I’ve seen among my DD’s friends once they all started to hit puberty—sorry, but I just can’t give it 100% credence.

See, you've proven my point.

You don’t have a point. You are incoherently screaming “homophobic” at anyone who posts. It’s beyond unhelpful.

Ok, explain how the purpose of this thread is to do anything other than reassure each other that the kids aren't really gay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My issue with threads like these, which are ubiquitous on this board, is that their purpose is to elicit “don’t worry, it’s a fad” responses. Y’all say you’re not homophobes, yet I haven’t seen a single post celebrating the new openness or even lending it any credibility. And when you use words like “majority” what’s implicit is that you don’t believe that what many of the kids are saying are true.

So, yea, threats like this are inherently homophobic. Sorry to break it to you.

If the new openness allows LGBTQ kids to feel safe and comfortable on their skin, that’s fantastic. But I can’t have an intellectually honest conversation about this without acknowledging the performative aspect to some of it. From the group texts I’ve seen among my DD’s friends once they all started to hit puberty—sorry, but I just can’t give it 100% credence.

See, you've proven my point.

How so?

And it’s funny that I’m now seeing an ad for an “Are you gay?” quiz on my screen now, because that’s exactly what was being discussed among my DD and her friends on her group text when she was in 6th grade and I first started noticing this phenomenon. They were all sharing the link, taking an online quiz, and discussing the results. The TikTok algorithms adjusted accordingly.

It's not a "phenomenon."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My issue with threads like these, which are ubiquitous on this board, is that their purpose is to elicit “don’t worry, it’s a fad” responses. Y’all say you’re not homophobes, yet I haven’t seen a single post celebrating the new openness or even lending it any credibility. And when you use words like “majority” what’s implicit is that you don’t believe that what many of the kids are saying are true.

So, yea, threats like this are inherently homophobic. Sorry to break it to you.

If the new openness allows LGBTQ kids to feel safe and comfortable on their skin, that’s fantastic. But I can’t have an intellectually honest conversation about this without acknowledging the performative aspect to some of it. From the group texts I’ve seen among my DD’s friends once they all started to hit puberty—sorry, but I just can’t give it 100% credence.

See, you've proven my point.

How so?

And it’s funny that I’m now seeing an ad for an “Are you gay?” quiz on my screen now, because that’s exactly what was being discussed among my DD and her friends on her group text when she was in 6th grade and I first started noticing this phenomenon. They were all sharing the link, taking an online quiz, and discussing the results. The TikTok algorithms adjusted accordingly.

It's not a "phenomenon."

Statistically, I think it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My issue with threads like these, which are ubiquitous on this board, is that their purpose is to elicit “don’t worry, it’s a fad” responses. Y’all say you’re not homophobes, yet I haven’t seen a single post celebrating the new openness or even lending it any credibility. And when you use words like “majority” what’s implicit is that you don’t believe that what many of the kids are saying are true.

So, yea, threats like this are inherently homophobic. Sorry to break it to you.

If the new openness allows LGBTQ kids to feel safe and comfortable on their skin, that’s fantastic. But I can’t have an intellectually honest conversation about this without acknowledging the performative aspect to some of it. From the group texts I’ve seen among my DD’s friends once they all started to hit puberty—sorry, but I just can’t give it 100% credence.

See, you've proven my point.

How so?

And it’s funny that I’m now seeing an ad for an “Are you gay?” quiz on my screen now, because that’s exactly what was being discussed among my DD and her friends on her group text when she was in 6th grade and I first started noticing this phenomenon. They were all sharing the link, taking an online quiz, and discussing the results. The TikTok algorithms adjusted accordingly.

It's not a "phenomenon."

Statistically, I think it is.

Oh, well if YOU think so then it must be true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My issue with threads like these, which are ubiquitous on this board, is that their purpose is to elicit “don’t worry, it’s a fad” responses. Y’all say you’re not homophobes, yet I haven’t seen a single post celebrating the new openness or even lending it any credibility. And when you use words like “majority” what’s implicit is that you don’t believe that what many of the kids are saying are true.

So, yea, threats like this are inherently homophobic. Sorry to break it to you.

If the new openness allows LGBTQ kids to feel safe and comfortable on their skin, that’s fantastic. But I can’t have an intellectually honest conversation about this without acknowledging the performative aspect to some of it. From the group texts I’ve seen among my DD’s friends once they all started to hit puberty—sorry, but I just can’t give it 100% credence.

See, you've proven my point.

How so?

And it’s funny that I’m now seeing an ad for an “Are you gay?” quiz on my screen now, because that’s exactly what was being discussed among my DD and her friends on her group text when she was in 6th grade and I first started noticing this phenomenon. They were all sharing the link, taking an online quiz, and discussing the results. The TikTok algorithms adjusted accordingly.

It's not a "phenomenon."

Statistically, I think it is.

Oh, well if YOU think so then it must be true.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My issue with threads like these, which are ubiquitous on this board, is that their purpose is to elicit “don’t worry, it’s a fad” responses. Y’all say you’re not homophobes, yet I haven’t seen a single post celebrating the new openness or even lending it any credibility. And when you use words like “majority” what’s implicit is that you don’t believe that what many of the kids are saying are true.

So, yea, threats like this are inherently homophobic. Sorry to break it to you.

If the new openness allows LGBTQ kids to feel safe and comfortable on their skin, that’s fantastic. But I can’t have an intellectually honest conversation about this without acknowledging the performative aspect to some of it. From the group texts I’ve seen among my DD’s friends once they all started to hit puberty—sorry, but I just can’t give it 100% credence.

See, you've proven my point.

You don’t have a point. You are incoherently screaming “homophobic” at anyone who posts. It’s beyond unhelpful.

Ok, explain how the purpose of this thread is to do anything other than reassure each other that the kids aren't really gay.

No one is doing that. Certainly not when you started your attacks. You are looking for negativity and controversy where there is none. Maybe go do something productive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My issue with threads like these, which are ubiquitous on this board, is that their purpose is to elicit “don’t worry, it’s a fad” responses. Y’all say you’re not homophobes, yet I haven’t seen a single post celebrating the new openness or even lending it any credibility. And when you use words like “majority” what’s implicit is that you don’t believe that what many of the kids are saying are true.

So, yea, threats like this are inherently homophobic. Sorry to break it to you.

If the new openness allows LGBTQ kids to feel safe and comfortable on their skin, that’s fantastic. But I can’t have an intellectually honest conversation about this without acknowledging the performative aspect to some of it. From the group texts I’ve seen among my DD’s friends once they all started to hit puberty—sorry, but I just can’t give it 100% credence.

See, you've proven my point.

You don’t have a point. You are incoherently screaming “homophobic” at anyone who posts. It’s beyond unhelpful.

Ok, explain how the purpose of this thread is to do anything other than reassure each other that the kids aren't really gay.

No one is doing that. Certainly not when you started your attacks. You are looking for negativity and controversy where there is none. Maybe go do something productive.

Ok, then what is the purpose of this thread other than to share skepticism about what the kids are saying?