Love, Sex, Etc.

Nikol,

I am 16 and have recently come out of the closet. Thing is, I have no idea where to meet other gay teens. I’ve yet to find any LGBT clubs in rural Alabama (where I’m stuck until I get out of high school) and even when I have a gut feeling that a girl I’m talking to might be gay, I still can’t bring myself to ask. What am I to do to meet other lesbian teens in a gay-hating place like the South?

Lesbian Looking for Love

Dear LLL,

You are out of the closet, which I congratulate you for in the first place. That took some courage. It also made it possible for other gay girls to be able to tell you if they are gay without worrying that you are going to flip out and crucify them with corn dog stick, or whatever you southern people do to show your distaste for others. If you have a feeling a girl might be gay and she already knows that you are gay, I would have to say you should just continue being your lesbian self and see if the other girl makes the typical moves that either show she likes you, or just comes out to you and wants to form a Gay Hallway Alliance.

The other thing I want to point out is that you, my lucky little southern lady, have the Internet. I can tell you do, because you emailed me your inquiry, and that would have been hard to do without the ‘net. Why did Al Gore invent it if we are just going to sit around and piss away all of its many useful aspects? I did a basic search for “gay teens Alabama” and was instantly able to click into several sites with news and communities for gay teens. I ended my search there, lest the FBI peg me as some nasty old tart trying to lure young ladies to my home, but I was pleased to see that there is hope for you.

Good thing, too. I was about to tell you to run away from Alabama. Now you can stay put and I am sure that will make your parents very happy. (I must make a note here that I never recommend running away from home. Unless you live in Ohio. Then take your entire family and get the heck out of there.)

For all of you other gay teens living in Nowheresville, use those search engines. Find friends. Being a teenager is already extremely confusing. Simplify by getting a network of people behind you who are experiencing the same thing. Then take over the world. Or just send each other stupid forwards that can be debunked on snopes.com. The Internet is also good for that.

Nikol

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Questions?

If you have a question for Nikol, you can reach her confidentially at nikolknows@milwaukeemagazine.com. Your anonymity will be protected.