Untitled

Aug 29

artpixie:

http://vi.sualize.us/view/snorlax/d36094d3b628481d6898765c7908477f/

Annoying Phrase of the day

1. “It’s Just a Phase”

Yes it’s the title of my tumblr but it also means so much more. The amount of times I have heard someone say or have had someone tell me that “It’s Just a Phase” is ridiculous. Not only is it a horrid phrase to hear but it’s one of those phrases that confines kids to closets just because of the fear of having their sexuality questioned.

It’s one of those phrases which is actually pushing progress back a step… with parents telling their children that what they’re thinking, feeling and essentially know is just a phase and that they will get over it is basically discounting their ability to think and feel for themselves. The first time my parents uttered this phrase I felt hurt, as if everything that I had internally struggled with for so hard was being questioned by two people who were meant to always love and support my decisions.

Parents: For the majority of gay and lesbian teenagers by the time they tell you they will have already consulted their friends, their mentors and anyone else they think that they can trust. You will usually be the last person to know, of that I can assure you. The period in which a young person discovers their sexual identity unfortunately falls at the same time when most children begin to draw away from being super close to their parents, unless their parents are open and supportive of the matter anyway, so you’re going to generally be the last ones to know. So by telling you they’re basically cementing in the fact that this is what they know, that their identity is basically 100% solidified, they are just doing you the general courtesy and letting you know. For most teens they’re not going to tell you unless they’re at least 90% sure, it’s not one of those things that you just put out there. It’s not one of those dinner time discussions that is brought up by going “By the way for the last 24 hours I’ve considered myself gay”. It’s one of those things which will have played on their mind of time and time again and they will have gotten the opinion of everyone important in their life. So accept it and support it. Don’t tell them it’s just a phase or you’ll push them further and further away.

Completely and utterly agree!