Book Shares Stories of ‘Proud, Popular’ Young Gay Men

Newswise — ITHACA, N.Y. – Upbeat books like “The New Gay Teenager” (2005) have made Cornell’s Ritch Savin-Williams the go-to advocate for gay teens all over America.
Now Savin-Williams, professor emeritus of developmental psychology in the College of Human Ecology, continues a 40-year career of sexual-identity research with a new book, “Becoming Who I Am: Young Men on Being Gay,” that teens might recommend to their parents – after reading it themselves, of course.
Interview-based conversations with 40 young gay men corroborate the view of “Jared,” a 16-year-old from Tennessee: “Yes, there are happy gay teens who lead great lives but there is so much more in this area that can be done and I want to help.”
That’s not a new theme for Savin-Williams, a clinical psychologist and research scientist, who lately has insisted: “Today’s gay youths are living the life gay adults could only have dreamed about when they were young – they’re proud, popular, respected, happy and ordinary.”
What’s new is the unvarnished frankness with which gay teens discuss everything – from online hookups and their first wet dreams, to porn addiction and the fear of rejection.
“Becoming Who I Am” is primarily verbatim stories from gay teens, talking directly to their peers, with advisory annotations from the author. Savin-Williams also places these stories in context about what we know regarding the developmental milestones of gay youth.
When Savin-Williams was an adolescent in the mid-20th century, a nervous parent’s obligatory “sex talk,” if it was done at all, went something like this: “Sit next to me on the sofa. Take this book. Let me know if you have any questions.”
In “Becoming Who I Am,” today’s not-so-nervous teens have a much better book to recommend.
Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews. For additional information, see this Cornell Chronicle story.
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