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You're Under 21. You Can't Be GAY!
Sorry, Kid.
by James Lehman
What's Up got a call the other day from a 17 year old
man, and though he seemed to be very shy, he did manage
to fulfill the purpose of his call. He wanted to know where
the gay scene was for people in this area. He said there is
another "homosexual" in his family, on his mother's side,
who goes to Lakewood, but our caller did not want to travel
that far on a regular basis. Since he is under 21, I couldn't
direct him to the bars, and he didn't seem to want to pursue
that idea anyway. He also pointed out that he wasn't really
looking for a relationship. He just wanted to find a group of
people he could have something in common with. He was
very new at this. I gathered he must not have many known-
gay friends. I told him about Cafe 115 and Angel Falls Coffee
Co. What else could I tell him? I got his name and number
and told him to call us whenever he wants to. I said I'd call
him back if I found out anything that might be of interest to
him.
Since then I've asked around and done a little
investigating, and I understand that there is an Akron gay
youth group. I'll need to contact them for more information
before I write anything specific. Then, of course, there are
lesbian, gay, bisexual student groups at
Akron,
Kent and
Youngstown Universities. I'm sure they would have some
good resources even for gay people still in high school.
Also, there is a group called Stonewall Akron. Their newsline
number is 849-1520. In the words of their president, Judy
Byrd: "We try to keep it updated with events coming up and
meetings dates. Anyone is welcome to the meetings, and
although I doubt that many youth would be too interested in
the politics, etc., good role models and acceptance abound
there!"
This young man's search for information brought up
an inevitable question in my mind. What is the local area gay
scene anyway? What does it mean to be gay and live in this
area of the United States? Does it mean that you must wait
until you're 21 to go to the gay bars (or get a fake ID)? Is that
it? I remember when I was in college at A.U. Back then it was
legal for me to drink at 18. I was very infatuated with a man 2
years younger than myself. I thought, hey! I paid good
money for my tuition, so I might as well go for all it's worth.
There are counselors available to all A.U. students, so I
figured I should go and talk to one of them for some insight
into my plight of pining for this boy. I remember It only took
about 10 minutes of conversation for the counselor to figure
out that I was quite sure that I was gay and that the best
thing for me to do was to find lots of other gay people and
maybe I'd forget about this guy I longed for. She gave me
the phone numbers and addresses of Adams Street, The
Quest, Jox, and Tear-Ez! I was fortunate enough to have a
very close friend, also gay, from high school who would
occasionally accompany me to these bars.
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