Gay at 7? No? But str8 at 7? okey dokey...

[darkeyes]

My boss and I had a meeting this morning about a problem child.. no nothing to do with sexuality.. thuggery more like.. but afterwards she who (like me) is a great Guardian person pointed this article out to me because she is if nothing else greatly supportive of the lgbt and is aware and reasonably progressive about the issues and problems of gay and bisexual kids in education..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/20/child-same-sex-crush

Now I happen to know that several of my colleagues are much less progressive and the lunch time chat about the issue was rather polarised.. how can a 7yo child know he is gay? He cant.. their argument.. not mine.. yet those same people quite happily argued that it is possible for a child to know he is str8.. they could not see that there was a contradiction in their argument.. as the article points out it, does show that we have a long way to go before we achieve equality of the sexualities... I am not arguing that a 7 year old knows his or her sexuality at that age... but I do know that I knew that mine wasnt heterosexual at 9 or 10... I didnt know what to call it or how to articulate it, but knew there was something about me that wasnt quite as most other kids seemed to be..

There does seem to be a real fear of what society considers is other than "normality". The angst we have about educating our kids in sexual issues and informing them about the diffirent sexualities (except of course heterosexuality.. that apparently is fine..) and ultimately how we treat them and deal with sexual issues.

I will not make a huge hue and cry over how I think about this for most will probably have some idea... but the article does raise interesting questions and makes some good points about the societal approach to sexuality in children and ulltimately adults..

[Jobelorocks]

I think at young ages kids start to figure out their sexuality. I knew from a young age I liked both boys and girls, but thought that everyone feels that way and you just have to pick the one you liked more. For me it was boys, so I just figured I was straight. I knew about homosexuality from an early age. My uncle was gay and so were his friends and they were among the predominant male figures in my early years, so I figured out homosexuality early on. I didn't even hear about bisexuality until Jr. High and then is when I figured out that was what I was.

[Dead Account]

I could see "confused" or maybe "curious", but knowing if you're gay or not at 7 seems a bit odd to me, sexuality is t even an issue to consider yet. It doesn't even enter into their young minds yet.

[Gearbox]

What's wrong with ASEXUAL at 7yo?lol (My 7yo daughter will be asexual till she's 26yo!lol).
But fekinell! Indoctrination of heterosexuality on 7yo's is fekked up, and it can AND does fek many people up who learn that they have to hide their 'unnatural' feelings to fit in with the crowd.
A crowd that is NEVER heterosexual anyway. Wave a stick at ANY group and call them heterosexual and your most likely WRONG!

I don't think that kid should be tagged as 'Gay' just because he has a crush on a male celebrity either. That's not a 'gay' thing. It's a kid thing. I had a crush on Donny Osmond, but I didn't want to fek him. I thought he was nice.lol Is that the same thing?
Btw I've told my little asexual daughter (:rolleyes:) all about boys having bf's and girls having gf's. Just in case! I hear there might be a slight case of non hetero-ness in the family somewhere.:rolleyes: (Probably on her mums side.lol).

[tenni]

When I read the article, one the first things that came into my mind was how was this different than any little boy "admiring" an athlete?

I think that the fact that this "Blaine" is a gay guy on Glee is a factor. I've only watched the show a few times but I think that Blaine is not as gay "acting" as the other gay character? I may be wrong. I'd want to know what the boy said about the charcter "Blaine" before I'd declare it a crush. Did the seven year old attach some sexual aspect to Blaine? Maybe, he like something about Blane outside of sex? It might be a romantic feeling but kids like adult for other reasons than sex.

[Hephaestion]

For same 'sex crush' should one read 'devoted friendship' this irrespective of the genders involved.

The expectation is that it should be returned with the same strength of feeling to the exclusion of all else. Is it not part of preparing to the leave the nest and finding one's terms of reference, alliances, and dependability?

[æonpax]

I shouldn't get started on this topic as it can get controversial, but I've been involved with and been a party to, research into child sexual awareness. Inclinations and other predispositions can and do, manifest themselves at ages which which seemingly contradict the western views, beliefs and understanding of such things. I'm all for letting any child determine their own orientation at their own pace.