I haven't come out to my parents yet but they know my friend is lesbian. When my grandma found out she said, "she's too young to know her sexuality, because you have to have sex first to know" Has anyone else experienced this kind of thing? Where parents think you/someone is too young to know their sexuality or that they're trans or something? I personally was caught off guard but then was a little annoyed because in my opinion when you know, you're never too young. Does anyone here think you have to be "old enough"? This is one of the reasons I'm afraid to come out to my family or adults now because I want them to believe me and not think there's some stupid age limit or something
I haven't told anyone who wasn't my age or experienced that reaction as of yet, but I don't think you're too young to know at all. Not all teenagers do know at this time though, and some of them can be pretty immature. I've also experienced a few people at my school saying they are gay just to get some attention. But no, you aren't too young to know. I'm also thirteen and very sure of my gender and sexuality, and their is no age limit to it!
"You're too young to know," is something that has never been said to any heterosexual teenager ever. If they're old enough to know they're straight, we're old enough to know we're not!
I was aware of my attraction to boys when I was 11 or 12. 8 years later and I'm still attracted to men, and I am well past the point of having sex.
My Mom actually believes the opposite- she thinks anyone who says this quote is full of shit and I got complete validation from her when I came out at 14. It helped to know she was always pro-gay. But people don't understand that you'd have to apply this to all sexualities. How does a straight man know he likes girls if he hasn't slept with them- or with men? How does somebody know they like blonde hair without sex with blondes. You just do; you don't sleep with someone and decide "Oh okay, I'm attracted to this person now!" You sleep with people BECAUSE you're attracted.
As with people have said, its stupid to say someone is too young to know of their sexuality. Nobody ever says "you're too young to know you're straight" to a heterosexual teen, so why should it be any different for non-hetero people?
Kids can know their sexuality long before they have sex or even hit puberty for that matter. I don't believe in that whole "you're too young to know" line. I think a lot of people have a hard time accepting their child's sexuality so they resort to using that line as a way of making it seem as though you are just going through a phase.
I completely agree that if it's fine to know you're straight, it's fine to know you're gay, bi, etc. You know when you know, the circumstance or age doesn't matter.
First of all your grandma said "You need sex to know." Well according to her I'm 21 and because I haven't had sex I don't know what I am. But even without sex I know I am gay because I long to spend the rest of my life with a cute boy.
I would just ask them if they would say you're too young to know if you had a boyfriend. Sex is only a small part of sexuality overall.
If you have to have sex to know first then why is it implied that you have to have straight sex to find out? That's like being told you have to try vanilla ice cream for the first time to know if you like ice cream in general. I think their dismissive mentality stems from the fact they've never had to question it. It's automatically assumed by the world that you'll just be straight and society is constantly catering to this notion. And no, there isn't an age limit to knowing about yourself. I came out as a girl when I was being potty trained, again at 7, and finally stood my ground on it by 27. My advice is to stick to your convictions and not waver. When asked about dating guys and whatnot tell them you're simply not interested. You'll probably then hear the ridiculous "how do you know if you've never tried it" garbage. In that case take a guy friend who understands out once and come back saying "tried it and nope, still gay". People who try to dismiss you either have preconceived notions that being gay is bad, fear the unknown, or fear you breaking the norm. It took my parents damn near a year to understand that my transition wasn't this horrible event of them completely losing their "son", but gaining an out of the closet and really happy daughter. Good luck!
Too young to know... Please. The first time I liked a girl, I was still a child, way younger than you. It has nothing to do with age in my opinion, it just comes naturally. Pay no mind to that. I didn't need to have sex with a woman to know I like women. The same way straight people don't need to have sex with the opposite gender to know they like 'em. That whole logic makes no sense...
