An Excerpt From Alexa Farmer's Journey To Homosexuality

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Wanting Acceptance "Boys are icky," Alexa Farmer said to her mom in the car one afternoon when the subject of guys came up a couple of years ago. "Well, do you like girls?" her mother asked in the same joking way. "Yeah," said Alexa, turning serious. She suddenly felt scared and wanted to jump out of the car. They were both quiet, and then Alexa's mother looked at her, expecting her daughter to say it was just a joke. "No, I'm serious," said Alexa, who is now 18. "I do like girls. I love girls." This is how the Center Grove student revealed that she was a lesbian. It was the beginning of her journey of trying to explain herself and her sexuality to her family and friends. To homosexual youth, the experience of revealing their sexuality to their families can range from entering into a new understanding with their loved ones to dealing with their complete shock and disapproval. "My mom was pretty accepting," Alexa said. "It took her a little bit to realize: 'Oh, she's gay.' But now she's cool with it." But it was different with her father. She told him during family therapy, but it was not without difficulty. "He immediately started crying, talking about Judgment Day, and I mean, my dad has…show more content…
He will never mention the fact that I'm gay." Alexa's father believes homosexuality is a sin, and he's tried to bring her back to his church to prevent her from remaining gay, she said. According to "The New Gay Teenager," a book by Cornell University Professor Ritch Williams (Harvard University Press, 2005), the average gay teen comes out before entering high school or right after high school. About 5 percent of American high school students -- or 750,000 students nationwide -- identify as being lesbian or gay, according to a 2004 national poll by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Trent Nauth, who was 18, decided to come out to his mother because he hoped that it would make their relationship more

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