In this podcast [name withheld] talks about being young and gay in 2012.
Summary
This abstract provides a summary of the recording "name withheld 8 - Q12," recorded in Whanganui, Manawatū on August 16, 2012. The recording features a 19-year-old discussing their life and experiences as a young, gay individual during the 2010s in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The individual, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts and plans to major in history, shares their early years in Whanganui, musical interests ranging from the eighties New Wave to artists like Madonna and Grace Jones, and their struggles with chronic fatigue and joint pain during high school, which pushed any thoughts of romance and sexuality to the sidelines. Despite being bedridden and missing out on sex education and physical activities that would overtire them, the person did well academically.
The individual realized they were gay around the age of 13 or 14, having always known they were different from their peers and initially believing they should be attracted to girls. Their first innocent crush occurred at age 12, on a boy who later disappeared from their life. When their sexuality became publicly known at 15 due to an offhand comment to a friend during a film screening, it surprisingly made them somewhat of a celebrity at school, even though not all reactions were positive.
Support during this period came from places like Closet Space and accepting friends. Reflecting on virginity, the individual considers it lost through any sexual act beyond kissing and expresses that different types of virginity exist, one being an intangible sense that applies to everyone. The individual also identifies as a virgin, having only experienced unrequited crushes, primarily on straight individuals, and never having been in a relationship.
The individual faced bullying throughout school because of their sexuality, from both peers and their peers' older siblings, necessitating counseling and causing significant distress. However, they also found solace in friendships that developed during their later school years.
When asked about family reactions to their coming out, the individual mentions coming out to their mother several years prior to the recording and only recently to their father, who was initially surprised and somewhat angry but later seemed to accept the information quietly. The individual's openness about their experiences reflects the challenges and support systems that were present at the time.
This summary is created using Generative AI. Although it is based on the recording's transcription, it may contain errors or omissions. Click here to learn more about how this summary was created.
Tags
Tags (computer generated)
abuse, attraction, closet, community, crying, culture, denial, disco, education, frustration, gender, gender identity, god, harassment, hate, history, hollywood, identity, kissing, love, lust, other, pain, parents, people, podcast, rainbow, siblings, singing, space, straight, stuff, the closet, time, top, virginity