Stages of Homosexuality in Adolescence

Gay, Lesbian and Bi-Sexual Adolescence Lesbian, Gay and Bi-sexual individuals, often times referred to, as LGB individuals, are those in society who can be defined and characterized by their sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is a term that can be complex and diverse. Sexual orientation is a variable that has varied throughout history and depends on different factors that are personal to the individual themselves. Although the term sexual orientation is a difficult term to define, for the purpose of this paper, LGB sexual orientation and homosexuality can be acknowledged as a person with sexual interest in attraction to members of one owns sex with orientation towards people of the same gender in sexual behavior, affection or attraction, and/ or self-identifies as a lesbian, gay or bi-sexual person. Homosexuality in adolescence is present in about 10% of the youth population, with others still finding themselves questioning their sexual orientation as well as forming their individual identity as an adolescent. Through studies, it has been found that adolescent males tend to first experience homosexual behavior or find themselves same-sex orientated earlier than adolescent girls. Majority of males found that they had had there very first same-sex experience by the time they reached fifteen years old, and majority of them were able to fully identify themselves as a gay teen by around the age of fourteen. In comparison, adolescent girl often times don’t experience their first homosexual experience until their mid emerging adulthood years, at around the age of twenty, and not fully indentifying themselves as a lesbian until around the age of twenty-three. Reasoning behind the time difference between genders during these particular identity stages go hand-in-hand with the four stages of a gay, lesbian or bi-sexual adolescent found in the journal article of Health and Social Issues of Gay, Lesbian and Bi-Sexual Adolescents. This article illustrates the