This paper is a part of a larger study involving the way gay youth experience American public high schools. The study is focused on gay males, not lesbian or bisexual youths. The paper is divided into three sections: (1) public high schools as an organization in terms of structure and beliefs; (2) sexualized context of the high school in terms of…

A questionnaire was sent to gay and lesbian youth support groups around the country asking what it felt like to be gay and lesbian in high school, and how young people thought teachers and counselors could make their classrooms more comfortable for gay and lesbian students. The 44 responses came from young people who had attended public or…

Gay youth enter high school with the knowledge that they are different and with the belief that heterosexuality is normal and that homosexuality is not normal. Also, gay youth enter high school with the belief that honesty and integrity are important personal values. Additionally, the gay youth enter high school without family knowledge of their…

The "lived reality" of secondary schooling for ten young gay men and the impact of this "reality" upon their emerging sexual identities is explored in this study. Two semi-structured interviews were held with each participant which allowed for the exploration of peer group culture, social and sexual activities, teachers, curriculum, counselors and…

The high school experiences of gay young men, the management of these experiences, and the relationships of these experiences and their management with organizational and personal factors provide the focus of this study of a small, carefully selected sample of gay young men who attended public high schools in the state of Washington. An…

Eleven percent of teenage girls and 14 percent of teenage boys in a recent survey acknowledged having had a same sex sexual encounter. It may be assumed that the number of adolescents with concerns related to sexual orientation exceeds the number with actual same sex experiences. If, as self-identified homosexual adults have reported, their sexual…