This book is for anyone who is unfamiliar with the gay world but has been thrown into it personally or by association and wants to know more about it. It answers questions for people who are gay or think they might be gay as well as being a resource for their families, friends, and supporters, including professionals such as teachers, counsellors, support workers, and doctors.
The text is written for someone of at least fourteen years of age and answers more than two hundred questions covering four main areas of gay life:
1. Questions about being gay
2. Questions asked by family and friends
3. Questions asked about the gay community, giving definitions of some common terms
4. Questions about gay sex and sexual health
Most gay people discover their sexuality in the early years of puberty and often internalize this knowledge while they come to terms with this new element of their persona. This book aims to take the mystery out about being gay and to provide the tools for gay people (and their supporters) to accept and cope with their reality.
The content of this book is drawn from the author’s professional training, his experiences, his own thoughts plus the thoughts of some of his colleagues, friends, and the hundreds of teenagers and adults that he has encountered in his work.
There is nowhere else in print or online that has this amount of detail, advice, and insight covering all aspects of gay life. As this book is aimed at a wide audience, most people will dip in and out of the sections and questions that are most relevant to them. Therefore some similar answers and advice in this book have to be delivered in a number of different key areas, so apologies for any repetition if you read it cover to cover.