Locker Room?

[sjg545]

To any guys who are out in high school: I was just wondering how you, as well as the guys around you, deal with the whole locker room situation in gym class... I can definitely imagine how awkward it would be.

[bookworm43]

lol which bring to mind- can't wait for 9th grade gym- but this time there'll be showers. won't THAT be uncomfortable.

[Zontar]

Honestly, this is one of those reasons I would suggest against coming out to everyone in high school. You're in this room with a bunch of naked jocks who delusionally believe you're batshit crazy for them. It's a no-win situation.

[ijustdontknow90]

Even though I'm still in the closet, all my experiences in high school and college weren't that bad. In high school, people didn't really get naked in the locker room after gym class. Honestly, I snuck a few peeks, but for some reason I never have the problem of getting erect unless there is physical contact (or something really explicit like porn). I'm guess I'm lucky in that aspect. College, it's much easier, since in addition to being filled with other college age guys, the locker rooms are filled with old, fat, hairy men, which (for me at least) is a pretty big turn-off.

[TheEdend]

I was only out in high school for my senior year, but gym was actually not bad at all. Nothing changed and people didn't treat me differently, which was pretty awesome of them. Granted my school has always been pretty "gay-friendly."

Actually, there was this other guy who was straight (as far as I knew) and the other guys would actually give him crap about "being gay" and things like that. Meanwhile they never said shit to me, an actual gay guy standing right next to them. That's how ridcs high schoolers can be.

People will usually respond to how you handle the situation. If you act nervous or something along those lines then they will notice it and take advantage of the situation. If you go in like nothing is wrong, change and then leave then people won't give a crap. And I know is very tempting, but try to stay away from looking at people haha

Edit: Another thing I forgot to mention is that most people in high school have their own insecurities in the locker room. Most people will be so worried about their own problems and making sure that people don't notice them that they simply don't notice anything else around them

[Emberstone]

Originally Posted by Zontar

Honestly, this is one of those reasons I would suggest against coming out to everyone in high school. You're in this room with a bunch of naked jocks who delusionally believe you're batshit crazy for them. It's a no-win situation.

it would actually depend where the school is. if your in backwater gunfellating alabama, dont come out. most jocks at my highschool were accepting of their gay friends and teammates. we only had to worry about the kids who were either loners, gangmember wannabes (either extremely skinny or morbidly obese, and always white), or the band of fundementalist christians who started the school day praying infront of the school for a hour and a half.

[Aeon]

I stare a hole at every half naked guy and no one noticed.

[Revan]

Originally Posted by Zontar

Honestly, this is one of those reasons I would suggest against coming out to everyone in high school. You're in this room with a bunch of naked jocks who delusionally believe you're batshit crazy for them. It's a no-win situation.

Oh don't give me that s**t. Unless you're a total straight-acting guy or a jock, locker rooms are a hazard gay or not. I didn't come out until Grade 11, and only took gym in Grade 9, I still was picked on because people thought I was gay and I didn't realize I was till two years later. So don't give me the stuff about coming out in high school is what's going to make gym a bad situation.

I apologize if I took this the wrong way, I'm just saying though it sounds like you're telling people to stay in the closet to avoid the gym problem. But you don't have to come out to deal with gym problems.

[FJ Cruiser]

I've never been in a locker room situation where everybody stripped down butt-naked around each other. We just changed our clothes. Still, one year there were two gay guys on my team who made it known that they stared at the other guys, particularly me. I and the others on our team didn't even give it a second thought about changing in front of them until they mentioned it. After that, we didn't really act any differently, but there was definitely more of an awkward air whenever we were in the locker room.

I didn't ever find any of the guys on my team attractive, so I never had a problem. Even in all the "jock" sports, there isn't that stereotypical locker room atmosphere like is portrayed on TV or movies. There is a "get in, get out ASAP" mode to where everybody is too busy to really even care who is gay and who is not.

[Zontar]

Originally Posted by Revan

Oh don't give me that s**t. Unless you're a total straight-acting guy or a jock, locker rooms are a hazard gay or not. I didn't come out until Grade 11, and only took gym in Grade 9, I still was picked on because people thought I was gay and I didn't realize I was till two years later. So don't give me the stuff about coming out in high school is what's going to make gym a bad situation.

I apologize if I took this the wrong way, I'm just saying though it sounds like you're telling people to stay in the closet to avoid the gym problem. But you don't have to come out to deal with gym problems.

I'm just saying most people in high school are irrational animals to begin with. As evidenced by bully problems both gays and non-gays suffer. Hell, even I had to deal with jock buffoons, and I was never even out. The point is that most high schoolers are borderline retarded and will exclude anyone who doesn't "fit in."

I never came out in high school and looking back, I don't think I exactly made the wrong decision. It was a mere four years of my life I got to live under the radar, without fighting some perpetual civil rights battle against popular boys who took one too many footballs to the head and totally apathetic school administration.

High school sucks enough as it is. I know in my high school, social culture usually consisted of finding the gay kids and lynching them. If you high schoolers want to come out, stick to your close friends. If I had any in high school, you can bet I'd had told 'em. And always remember, thankfully nobody gives a shit about these things once you get into college.

[TheEdend]

^ What works for some people might not work for everyone. If someone feels comfortable enough with themselves and wants to come out then thats up to them. If someone decides to wait until college then thats also their decision. There isn't a wrong answer.

[JDog]

Locker rooms, a league of hell all onto itself, lol. Honestly though, looking back on high school I remember a huge amount of anxiety over gym class but I never actually remember anything awkward happening. I wasn't out in high school but I remember that time spent in the locker room was always very short because our teacher was screaming at us to hurry up and run laps, so in hindsight there really is nothing to worry about. Also, there's always going to be at least one person who parades around naked but I think that most people were just as insecure about their bodies as I was. But that's high school.

[Flyers2011]

I came out my sophomore year of high school and I only had one occurrence of someone accusing me of, "Perving on them while they changed."

Honestly, I was attracted to the girl but I wasn't dumb enough to do that. In a locker room, full of our classmates, five feet away from our teacher.

The easiest way to avoid the 'locker room awkwardness' is to mind your own business, get in, get done, get out. Don't linger if you don't have to. Just go about things as if there was nothing to be ashamed of because you have nothing to be ashamed of.

[TheWanderer]

Originally Posted by Flyers2011

The easiest way to avoid the 'locker room awkwardness' is to mind your own business, get in, get done, get out. Don't linger if you don't have to. Just go about things as if there was nothing to be ashamed of because you have nothing to be ashamed of.

This

[Just Passing]

I didn't really realise I was gay in high school, but I did find myself looking around a lot during the period I got changed and "appreciated" some of the fine bodies that were in there with me, even more so compared to my bland no muscle, fattish body at the time. Pretty much everyone I knew at the time were all boasting about their six packs and showing off their muscles that it made me feel uncomfortable, more so than any thought about being gay.

That being said, whenever I'm in a changing room now, you can bet I'll be looking.

Still, I wonder if any girls have a similar issue in this department.

[Holliepop]

I stopped doing P.E when I was 16 as it stopped being compulsory in 6th form.

But I can definitely remember not looking at anyone. Not because I was afraid of getting caught, but because they were either ugly, my friends, or bitches who I hated. However, we were pretty much all insecure, so we were all busy trying to change in the most descreet yet quick way possible.

No one insulted others because anyone could have just turned it around and said something like "Why you thinking about her looking at you, huh?"

We didn't have showers because we never did THAT much exercise. Like, we would stand there with a tennis racket in our hand. We were a lazy bunch and the teacher didn't give a crap.

The only thing I hated about it was how we didn't get enough time to change, so I ended up with putting a shirt on back or inside out or something. -.-

[Bowie]

I've never had high school gym classes, but I've started swimming recently, so that obviously involves changing and showering in a locker room. It's a bit awkward to me, but I usually take my underwear and pants to the showers, which are separated by walls, and get changed there. People don't usually do it, but no one seems to find it weird that I do.

[Gumtree]

I never had a problem in this situation.

I changed, showered, conversed with and participated in all the usual foolery in the locker rooms. No one seemed to have a problem with me being openly gay. Of course there were occasional comments, but all were made as a joke and were said light heartedly.

For me, the overall rule for determining your position in 'non-gay environments', is that that everyone else will generally feel as comfortable as you. So if you don't feel comfortable being around str8 guys naked/showering, then they'll probably notice and the feelings will be reciprocated.

[Noahroxursox]

I'm pretty much in the same situation as the person who started this thread, but I don't think it's going to be much of a problem, mainly for the reason that I only have to take half a year of gym my whole high school career, and I don't think many of the guys in my grade know I'm gay, mainly for the fact that I came out to everyone AFTER school ended.

[Lexington]

It's no big deal. Seriously.

I'm in there to shower, change and leave. So I shower, change and leave. I don't actively look at other guys. If they want to walk in front of me naked, then yeah, I'll look. But most don't. If I pop wood, I pop wood. Nobody's ever said anything. If somebody ever did, I'd say one of two things.

1. "Yeah, he's a born performer. He gets up every time he has an appreciative audience."
2. (glancing down) "Looks like it's working OK." (glancing at his) "So what's wrong with yours?"

But, as I said, it's never happened.

Lex