This booklet is for young men under 18 who think they might be gay or bisexual. Designed with professionals in mind (teachers, school counsellors, youth workers), this accessible and non-explicit resource covers common anxieties that young gay or bisexual men may face such as telling people, meeting others, sexual health and where to go for support.
"… who think they might be gay or bisexual" yet…
Uneasy: "There's no hurry to label yourself 'gay' (or 'bisexual' if you fancy women too)."
Hmm, this makes me think bisexual is seen as second best.
Good: the example bisexual man is firm about being bisexual rather than gay.
Argh: again, all stuff about sex is about sex between men. Whether it's having a partner – "boyfriend" – or using condoms – "put lots of lubricant around his bum".
Readers are told that
The two most common things to do to make sex safer are:
- using a condom for anal sex and
- not getting semen in the mouth.
Erm.. what happened to using a condom for vaginal sex?!? In terms of numbers, it's far more common than using condoms for anal sex.
When the booklet was published in 2003, there was a bisexual helpline which had been running for over a decade. It wasn't mentioned in the resources. Readers are told to search for 'gay' or 'gay and lesbian'. This got me searching THT's website for 'bisexual', with the results to be seen later.