Identitätsentwicklung schwuler Jugendlicher : eine Befragung deutschsprachiger junger Schwuler in der schwulen Szene sowie im Internet

Abstract

This study surveys the social and sexual identities of gay male German adolescents, and the conditions they are living in. 173 (49%) of the participants were recruited via paper sampling in gay community facilities, 180 (51%) via gay internet resources. The age range is 15-25 years, the mean age is 21.3 years (paper: 21.5; internet: 21.2), the standard deviation comes to 2.47 years (paper: 2.23; internet: 2.69). In most cases, adolescents manage their coming-out between the ages of 14 and 17, having to cope with severe identity problems and lonesomeness. There is the same level of unsureness and fear as was in surveys conducted 30 years earlier. Almost half of the sample are not out towards their fathers. Love, sexuality, and partnership are experienced later than in heterosexual contexts. The median for the first steady boyfriend is 19.2 years, compared to 16.8 years for the first steady girlfriend among same age heterosexual adolescents. Sexual initiation is very often performed with men who are several years older. 11% of the sample have suffered sexual violence. Anti-gay harassment is omnipresent. 56% of the sample have experienced verbal abuse, 39% were abandoned by friends. School is quite a homophobic place. Less than 20% of homophobic insults are countered by teachers. The main psychosocial problems are love distress (54%), lonesomeness (47%), AIDS (40%), contact to other gays (37%), dissatisfaction with sex life (34%), and outing in the family (33%). Three quarters of the sample have thought about suicide, every twelfth committed one ore more attempts. Political interest and societal engagement are stronger than among heterosexual peers, with a high impact of philosophical values. Findings suggest the implementation and stabilization of age-related gay institutions as well as the integration of gay issues into everyday life, especially in terms of family, school, and youth policies. Further psychological research is requested on sexual violence, on sexual and non-sexual interaction between gay youth and older gay men, and on the meaning of femininity and of aging in gay biographies. Above all, corresponding pure research is needed in the field of lesbian identity development.