In Spain we call it Saturday

I think out teachers are very important. In 7th grade, my English teacher, who I already loved, told me she had gone to pride the previous weekend, and it made me feel really good. I’m working with teenagers this summer and would love to have a positive impact in that way
I've realised mere visibility and openness has a really positive impact.

It's mad to think that in this world and in our lifetimes, gay people weren't or aren't allowed to teach children. I know I'm hardly the first, but it still feels special in a really positive way.
 
I've realised mere visibility and openness has a really positive impact.

It's mad to think that in this world and in our lifetimes, gay people weren't or aren't allowed to teach children. I know I'm hardly the first, but it still feels special in a really positive way.
When I was born, gay sex was illegal in Georgia...
 
When I was born, gay sex was illegal in Georgia...
Outrageous, but I'm keen propenant that we should celebrate positive change. I think it was still illegal in Northern Ireland when I was born back in the dark ages.

I haven't really followed the current trends in the US, but I noticed some homophobic legal shit going on in Florida recently.
 
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Outrageous, but I'm keen propenant that we should celebrate positive change. I think it was still illegal in Northern Ireland when I was born back in the dark ages.

I haven't really followed the current trends in the US, but I noticed some homophobic legal shit going on in Florida recently.
Florida and every Republican controlled state... :evil:
 
It wasn’t actually gay sex that was illegal but all anal sex :D
 
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It was legalized in 1951 here but it still wasn't nice to be growing up as a gay child.
Society was moving at a different pace than the law.
Yeah I think sometimes things are different in reality than the law. Despite Georgia’s terrible government, Atlanta is a gay friendly city and I didn’t really face much homophobia in school at all.

However, I’m sure being a white man has helped, so things could have been different
 
I was literally speaking with a friend about how mad it was we had zero gay sex education at school. He remembers one of our (straight) teachers giving a speech about if anyone wanted to confide in him for "feeling different" they could do so, which we recognise now as probably a thinly veiled offer to come to him if we wanted (but he couldn't talk explicitly about being gay!), and looking back that was such a nice thing to do.

I wasn't out to myself at school because I'd never even thought it. I always assumed I just wasn't as interested or as "cool" as the ones "getting on" each other in the park after school (and I still don't really know what "getting on" means). If we'd just even had one lesson about homosexuality told from a positive perspective maybe I'd have twigged sooner.
 
I just checked and Section 28 was abolished in Scotland when I was in P2, so it would never have affected me. In high school we had some gay sex ed, though there was still a bit of childishness and bullying around it. By the time I was in 6th year though, the only people I ever saw bullied were weirdly the ones (presumably) still in the closet. Once you came out the bullies gave up and left you alone
 
I was literally speaking with a friend about how mad it was we had zero gay sex education at school. He remembers one of our (straight) teachers giving a speech about if anyone wanted to confide in him for "feeling different" they could do so, which we recognise now as probably a thinly veiled offer to come to him if we wanted (but he couldn't talk explicitly about being gay!), and looking back that was such a nice thing to do.

I wasn't out to myself at school because I'd never even thought it. I always assumed I just wasn't as interested or as "cool" as the ones "getting on" each other in the park after school (and I still don't really know what "getting on" means). If we'd just even had one lesson about homosexuality told from a positive perspective maybe I'd have twigged sooner.
They get taught about LGTBQ stuff from primary school age now. They arrive at secondary school with mostly very positive views about alternative sexualities. I tell them how impressive their generation is on the related issues. As a result there are trans kids in primary school, and openly gay teenagers.

I came out on GCSE results day, which tells it's own story.
 
I was literally speaking with a friend about how mad it was we had zero gay sex education at school. He remembers one of our (straight) teachers giving a speech about if anyone wanted to confide in him for "feeling different" they could do so, which we recognise now as probably a thinly veiled offer to come to him if we wanted (but he couldn't talk explicitly about being gay!), and looking back that was such a nice thing to do.

I wasn't out to myself at school because I'd never even thought it. I always assumed I just wasn't as interested or as "cool" as the ones "getting on" each other in the park after school (and I still don't really know what "getting on" means). If we'd just even had one lesson about homosexuality told from a positive perspective maybe I'd have twigged sooner.
All I remember us having was our PE teacher in Year 9 trying to make everyone laugh by putting a condom on a carrot. :DAF: This was around the same time I was going through a daily ritual of writing S and G all over the page of my notebook and closing my eyes and landing on one of the letters with my pen. If it landed on G, for gay, then I’d do it again until I landed on S, for straight.
 
I just checked and Section 28 was abolished in Scotland when I was in P2, so it would never have affected me. In high school we had some gay sex ed, though there was still a bit of childishness and bullying around it. By the time I was in 6th year though, the only people I ever saw bullied were weirdly the ones (presumably) still in the closet. Once you came out the bullies gave up and left you alone
I think it was repealed in 2003 and I left school in 2004 but sex ed would have been 2 years before it, so unfortunately I think I just missed the boat.

Oh well, as least I know what syphillis in a vagina looks like.
 
All I remember us having was our PE teacher in Year 9 trying to make everyone laugh by putting a condom on a carrot. :DAF: This was around the same time I was going through a daily ritual of writing S and G all over the page of my notebook and closing my eyes and landing on one of the letters with my pen. If it landed on G, for gay, then I’d do it again until I landed on S, for straight.
We had to put condoms on a cucumber but there weren't enough cucumbers to go around so the rest of us had to use our fingers. USEFUL.
 
I think it was repealed in 2003 and I left school in 2004 but sex ed would have been 2 years before it, so unfortunately I think I just missed the boat.

Oh well, as least I know what syphillis in a vagina looks like.
Yeah, 2003 in England and Wales, 2000 in Scotland, and Northern Ireland did its own thing entirely
 
I just checked and Section 28 was abolished in Scotland when I was in P2, so it would never have affected me. In high school we had some gay sex ed, though there was still a bit of childishness and bullying around it. By the time I was in 6th year though, the only people I ever saw bullied were weirdly the ones (presumably) still in the closet. Once you came out the bullies gave up and left you alone
Not a single person came out in my school and there were a fair few (with hindsight) obvious gays. I suppose it being all boys (until sixth form) didn't help
 
My story of basically being told to man up as a response to homophobic bullying, was as likely influenced by section 28 as it was the teachers' ignorance. I seem to recall when I told them I was gay, I expected they'd by sympathetic, but they weren't and that was extremely damaging.
 
I'm starting teaching sex ed this week. I haven't seen the program yet, but we've been trained to believe there will be an LGBTQ element.

When I first had sex at 16 I was surprised at how it worked. Utter failure of the education system.
 
Not a single person came out in my school and there were a fair few (with hindsight) obvious gays. I suppose it being all boys (until sixth form) didn't help
The only other gay I know of from my school year is now a Trump supporter.
 
My God I'm exhausted. Teaching on 60% hours right now. Which doesn't sound like much, but doing this all for the first time, with planning and marking and meetings, it's a lot. Going up to 80٪ soon. It's not putting me off though.

I still love it. A 12 year old girl and her friends stopped me after a lesson the other day and said "we heard you're gay". I said yes and proud. The girl said "I'm gay too". I said "good for you, as long as you're happy", which I think was the right thing.

I had a little happy cry after. Makes the exhausting hours totally worth it.
That really is beautiful, there were no out kids in our school in my time, it wasn’t until 6th form that there was any talk of sexuality
 
I came out at 17, and I was one of 3 in my grade. My entire friend group came out eventually though. My sister was three years below me, and there were a lot of out guys in her grade. Someone two years older than me who was openly gay won homecoming king, which was a big deal, but I was mostly just jealous
 
I came out at 17, and I was one of 3 in my grade. My entire friend group came out eventually though. My sister was three years below me, and there were a lot of out guys in her grade. Someone two years older than me who was openly gay won homecoming king, which was a big deal, but I was mostly just jealous
I think sneering insecure jealousy was my go to feeling about most other gays until I was about 28.
 

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