Do you often feel your teenager’s world is so different from the one you knew in middle and high school that it’s almost like a different country? Teens today are bombarded with media messages about sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sexual behaviors that would have been taboo or just whispers when their parents were their ages.

Teenagers themselves are just not as informative about this strange new land as, say, Christiane Amanpour or Anderson Cooper might be. So, how do we parents know what to say, if the opportunity comes to talk to our teens and tweens about these topics? What if there were an expert panel to answer our questions and tell us what we didn’t know we didn’t know? This website is intended as a kind of virtual panel discussion where we can hear from current and recent teens and other parents, about real situations and how they handled them. I hope you will contribute your stories too; everyone has something to learn and something to teach.

Why are you here? Perhaps you are reading this because you wonder about your own children, or because they have asked questions that left you tongue-tied. Even if you are certain your kids are straight,  happily gender-conforming, and comfortable with the gender they have, they will encounter many situations you did not. Chances are some of their friends may not be straight, gender-conforming, or happy to be the gender the world sees them as.

So, what do we parents need to know? I wanted to hear the real life stories of current and recent teens.  I set out to interview the real life “experts” across the country and across cultural backgrounds. I am collecting the results in a book, but in the meantime am sharing some of the best parts here.  Included are such topics as:

• How can you figure out your sexual orientation when it seems confusing?
• When and how do you “come out”?
• How should parents react when their kids come out? How to tell the extended family?
• What is social life like for queer kids? Will friendships change?
• How do you determine the right “speed” for physical intimacy in same-sex relationships,  where the hetero-sexual “bases” seem weird, archaic, and/or irrelevant, and where public displays in many places might be dangerous?
• How can you stay true to yourself while fitting into a larger culture (gay culture, straight culture, some new culture)? [Coming soon]
• What issues do kids with LGBT parents face? [Coming soon]

and more.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you find what YOU want to know, and are inspired to share from your own experience.

About posting comments:

1. Please be honest, and respectful. All comments are screened before they become visible on the site.

2. As with my interview subjects, you can choose your own level of anonymity. Please put ONLY two initials in the “Name” field; these can be related to your actual name or not. This way there is no stigma for those who need or prefer not to reveal their names.  If you enter a name, I will use the first initials.

3. Some of the comments posted here may be included in my eventual book. If you DO NOT WANT your comment considered for inclusion in the book, please note that in your comment. I may include your comment (without the note about the book) here but will not include it in the book.

If you are interested in the e-book currently in the works, please let me know here: