What's Good About Being Gay? Perspectives from Youth

Abstract

This article explores gay and bisexual male adolescents’ positive perceptions of their sexual orientation identity. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with an ethnically diverse sample of 63 gay/bisexual male adolescents in Chicago (N = 42) and Miami (N = 21). Data revealed two major conceptual categories: (1) positive personal conceptualizations of being gay/bisexual and (2) resiliency in the face of gay-related oppression. Additional primary themes and subthemes were identified within each category that further illustrate how gay/bisexual youth were able to develop positive conceptualizations of their sexual orientation despite experiencing negative societal messages about being gay/bisexual. Implications for the development of interventions to promote the health and well-being of gay/bisexual male youth are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Bisexual
• gay
• male
• resiliency
• sexual orientation
• youth

Acknowledgments

The Adolescent Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN) is funded by grant Nos. 5 U01 HD 40533 and 5 U01 HD 40474 from the National Institutes of Health through the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (A. Rogers, PhD, MPH; K. Ryan, PhD; B. Kapogiannis, MD), with supplemental funding from the National Institutes on Drug Abuse (N. Borek, PhD), Mental Health (P. Brouwers, PhD), and Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (K. Bryant, PhD). The study was scientifically reviewed by the ATN's Behavioral Leadership Group. Network scientific and logistical support was provided by the ATN Coordinating Center (C. Wilson, C. Partlow) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Network operations were provided by the ATN Data and Operations Center at Westat, Inc. (G. Selkin-Gutman, J. Korelitz, and B. Driver). We would like to thank Larry Friedman, MD, PI, of the Miami Adolescent Trials Unit and the staff of the Behavioral Health Promotion Program (Cesar deFuentes, Luis Alzamora, Cristobal Plaza, and Leah Varga). The investigators are grateful to the members of the Community Advisory Board for their insight and counsel and are particularly indebted to the youth who participated in this study.